


Pyrrhic

by night_scare



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-03-04 18:57:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3083294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/night_scare/pseuds/night_scare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They thought they would find redemption on the ground, a second chance, but what they are met with is an uphill battle and as they struggle to build a life for themselves on Earth they find that there is no rest for the weary.</p>
<p>[Murphy/OC]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homecoming

* * *

_Let's get started with introductions..._

* * *

 

_The Skybox, the prison which housed the Ark’s adolescent prisoners, was normally bustling with noise and today was no different. As she sat in her cell, she fiddled with a small scrap of metal that had been fashioned into a ring which was too big for any of her fingers other than her thumb and she tried to ignore the hunger stabbing at her stomach knowing that breakfast wasn’t going to be given to her for another hour or so._

_The first clue that something was wrong was the screaming coming from the other delinquents; she was used to the loud rambunctious laughter and shouts that echoed through the walls of the Skybox, but now the air was filled with screams of confusion and terror. Hesitantly, she stood from the metal contraption she called her bed and approached the door to her cell trying to peek out of the tiny holes in hopes she could see what was going on outside, but the only thing she could make out were outlines of figures being pushed about._

_A loud rap on her door startled her and she took a few steps back her heart in her throat as two guards barged in, one ordering her to face the wall which she should have done without question, however, she remained stationed where she was her eyes staring coldly ahead._

_“What’s going on?” she asked and was commanded to turn around again. “You’re a day early,” she insisted hoping that she hadn’t miscounted the day as her eyes scanned over to the tally marks she had etched on the wall of her cell._

_“Plans have changed,” said one of the guards as he took out a metal wristband from a box. “Hold out your arm.”_

_She shook her head and stepped backwards in a defensive manner. “No, no. I still have a day left!” she pleaded her cool exterior melting as panic set in._

_“Your arm,” the guard repeated and stepped forward his broad shoulders straightening to appear intimidating to the small girl. His partner loomed dangerously in the background his hand hovering over the stun gun on his holster as though he was itching to use it._

_In turn she squared up and held her ground not allowing the men the satisfaction of knowing that she felt threatened by them and with her chin upturned in a last act of defiance she simply stated. “No.” Then she braced herself for what was to come._

* * *

 

After both of the guards came at her at the same time her memory turns fuzzy, but from the blood trickling down her busted lip and the wristband securely on her arm, it was safe to say that she had lost that fight.

The belt that strapped her into the seat felt suffocating and the onset of a panic attack was not helping as she struggled to breathe, her hands nervously gripping at the armrests on either side of her. Euphemia Macrae was not one to be afraid, but if they were heading where she thought they were, she was absolutely terrified.

There was indistinct conversation going on around her but it came to a halt when the ship jolted and then after another moment the lights flickered on as well as a screen which showed the grim face of Chancellor Jaha.

 _“Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now,”_ he addressed. _“You’ve been given a second chance and as your Chancellor I hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better we would have sent others. Frankly, we’ve sent you because your crimes have made you expendable.”_

“Your dad’s a dick Wells!” someone called out. A boy who looked oddly similar to the Chancellor looked down in what could only be described as shame.

_“...those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean.”_

She felt herself snort and the two boys who were seated next to her glanced over. “ … if we die, it sure as hell won’t matter if our records are clean,” she grumbled irately and shifted her eyes down to her worn out brown boots which had been handed down through the Ark for three generations.

_“The drop site has been chosen carefully before the last war the last war. Mount Weather, a military base built within a mountain was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain a group of 300 for more than two years.”_

More commotion drowned out the sound of the Chancellor as a kid flipped and floated around the other prisoners, someone exclaiming: “Spacewalker strikes again!” and another: “Go, Finn!”

Said Spacewalker hovered by Euphemia, plucking the ratty green hat off of her head all the while wearing an arrogant smirk. “Hey!” she exclaimed as she watched him put her favorite and only hat on his head. “Give it back!” She tried to snatch it back only to have him float out of her reach. “You have got to be kidding me,” she stated flatly with an irritated look as she tried to smooth down her frizzy, red hair.

“Sorry, Red.” he called out but the haughty smile remained telling her he wasn’t apologetic at all.

_“You must locate those supplies immediately.”_

Two others guys were eager to join ‘Spacewalker Finn’ despite the pleas of a pretty blonde girl to stay in their seats. The ship jolted as the parachutes deployed and the three boys who were no longer constrained by their seat belts flew into the walls of the ship with a sickening crack.

Sparks were flying as the ship descended onto Earth in anything other than a graceful landing. When the ship finally settled and the whirs of the motor stopped everyone looked around at one another with uncertainty.

One of the boys next to Euphemia announced. “Listen,” There was a moment of silence. “…no machine hum,” he pointed out.

“Whoa,” breathed the boy with the goggles next to her.

The buckles clicked and everyone was set free from their restraints. People were scrambling all over until one guy yelled. “The outer door is on the lower level! Let’s go!”

The blonde girl from before rushed to stop anyone from opening the doors. “No! We can’t just open the doors!” she insisted.

Euphemia made it down the ladder as a crowd was gathering and she found the two boys she had been sitting next to in the mass of people. She made her way over to them if only because she found some sort of camaraderie with them due to sharing a seating section.

“Hey, guys back it up!” a man in a guard’s uniform ordered before he turned to pull the lever that would open the main door.

“You can’t!” the blonde objected. “The air could be toxic.”

“If the air is toxic we’re all dead, anyway,” he countered.

From behind the group, a woman’s voice interjected. “Bellamy?”

The guy dressed as a guard looked up in awe as a young woman made her way towards him with her own shocked expression and when she was in front of him a tender smile played at his lips. “My god, look how big you are.”

“That’s a really weird thing to say,” noted Goggles from beside Euphemia who looked at the boy with amusement.

The girl hugged Bellamy tightly before pulling away and looking at his outfit. “What the hell are you wearing, a guard’s uniform?”

“I borrowed it,” he explained. “...to get on the drop ship. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you.”

“Where’s your wristband?” the blonde asked. Euphemia looked down at her own wristband and then at the others around her, realizing they all had a similar band on their arm while this guy, Bellamy, did not.

The other girl turned from Bellamy with a scowl on her face. “Do you mind? I haven’t seen my brother in a year.”

“No one has a brother.” Someone commented loudly.

Then a female voice from the back of the crowd announced: “That’s Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor.”

Octavia lunged towards the crowd with a snarl on her face only to be held back by her brother. “Octavia, Octavia, no. Let’s give them something else to remember you by,” he said trying to calm her.

“Yeah? Like what?” she questioned indignantly.

“Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years.” The two shared a smile and Bellamy turned to the lever which would reveal the ground to them something no human had seen in nearly a century. When the door flew open Euphemia didn’t think anyone was prepared for what they saw.

Euphemia stared in wonder at the sky and the trees and the ground. The rays from the sun were warm against her skin and never in her life could she have imagined this is what sunlight would feel like. Tears welled up in her eyes as she gaped at her surroundings trying to ignore feeling of longing tugging at her heart. It was the feeling of going home; going home to a place where she had never before been but inexplicably felt drawn to.

Bellamy stood in front of the group with his hand out preventing anyone from passing by him as Octavia made her way down the ramp standing just at the edge for a moment before she stepped down with a small hop and looked around. “We’re back, bitches!” she screamed with her arms in the air and everyone else cheered and made their way out of the drop ship in a hurry.

Euphemia hung back not minding the fact people pushed their way past her to get outside. She seemed hesitant and simply watched as everyone else ran around taking in their new surroundings.

“You gonna just stand there?” a voice asked from beside her and Euphemia looked over at the dark haired friend of Goggles.

“I’m taking it all in,” she responded although the quiver in her voice gave away just how anxious she really was.

He smiled at her and when he grabbed her hand that was when she realized she had been trembling. “Come on,” said the boy as he held her hand firmly in his own preventing it from shaking.

When her foot made contact with the ground for the first time she felt a surge of excitement before she allowed herself to join in with everyone else in their enthusiastic displays.

“Monty Green,” The dark haired boy introduced himself while they all ran around like wild creatures eager to take in everything around them.

She grinned and shook his hand. “Euphemia Macrae.” She then looked around. “Where’s your friend with the goggles?”

“Jasper?” he thought aloud and looked confused as to where his friend was but then he saw him over near Wells and his blonde friend. Jasper must’ve said something that Wells didn’t appreciate because he grabbed Jasper by his coat before pushing him away. Jasper looked a bit startled as Euphemia and Monty watched with uncertainty.

“Hey, hey, hey. Hands off, he’s with us,” came a voice and Euphemia looked over at the owner who had a group of rough looking delinquents behind him.

When her eyes landed on his familiar face she felt her entire body heat up. “Murphy…” she whispered to herself and she tried to shrink behind Monty to make herself less visible to the boy although her bright red hair was something that made it extremely hard for her to blend in with her surroundings much to her chagrin.

“Relax,” said Wells. “ … we’re just trying to figure out where we are.” 

  
“We’re on the ground. That not good enough for you?” Bellamy called out as he heard the dispute going on from a few feet away.

“We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father’s message, that has to be our first priority,” Wells tried to reason hoping that someone in the group would rationalize.

“Screw your father,” Octavia spoke up. “What? You think you’re in charge here? You and your little princess?”

“Do you think we care who’s in charge?” Blondie asked rhetorically. “We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so but because the longer we wait the hungrier we’ll get and the harder this’ll be. How long do you think we’ll last without those supplies? We’re looking at a 20-mile trek. So if we want to get their before dark we have to leave, _now_.”

“I have a better idea,” declared Bellamy. “You two go and find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change.”

There was a round of agreement and Wells shook his head. “You’re not listening. We all need to go.”

He was shoved from behind. “Look at this, everybody — the Chancellor of Earth,” Murphy ridiculed.

Laughter echoed through the forest. “You think that’s funny?” Wells questioned when he regained his footing, but it was quickly lost again when Murphy tripped him causing Wells to land painfully on his leg.

“No, but I think that was,” Murphy quipped and began to egg Wells on as he got up, limping from the fall.

Spacewalker decided to make his grand reentrance as he jumped down from the side of the drop ship in between Wells and Murphy, staring down Murphy as he walked up to him. “Kid has got one leg. How ‘bout you wait until it’s a fair fight?”

Murphy looked at Finn as Octavia came up. “Hey, Spacewalker!” she called to Finn. “Rescue me next.” There was a coy smile on her face as suggestive noises were made by the onlooking group.

Annoyance bubbled in Murphy’s eyes as he watched Finn turn his attentions from Octavia to something behind him. “There you are, Red,” Finn said and sauntered over to Euphemia who was giving him an exasperated look. The boy stuck the green hat he had stolen from her back onto her head and gave her a grin. “Back to its rightful owner.”

“Yeah. After you stole it,” she mumbled sourly and flinched as he ruffled her hat covered head before walking off with a delighted smile.

It was then she noticed Murphy’s eyes were trained on her with his mouth gaping. She was hard to miss with her wild, red hair and splash of freckles. No, he reasoned with himself, it was definitely Euphemia Macrae. He was frozen in his spot as he gawked at her and when Monty and Jasper noticed the staring contest between the two Monty was the one to inquire. “Do you know him?”

She felt herself nod unconsciously before asking. “Ya mind giving me a minute?”

The two walked away constantly glancing back at their newfound companion while whispering to each other about what they thought was going on between the two.

“Effy…” Murphy uttered as he stared into her green eyes. There was no denying it was her. “You…” The next thing she knew she was wrapped in his arms and despite herself she felt at ease with his arms around her.

Silence enveloped them for a long while. “I hated you,” she murmured into his jacket and he pulled away appearing surprised at her disclosure. Her eyes fell away from the blue of his eyes and favored the brown of the soil. “ … you didn’t come back when you said you would…” Murphy searched her face, realizing the implication of her words. “I thought you just stopped visiting,” she admitted. “… I thought you didn’t care anymore.”

His brows furrowed as he shook his head shocked that the girl thought he would abandon her. “I got charged with assault,” he told her. “I thought I would see you in the Skybox, but —”

She cut him off. “They put me in isolation.” A pause. “A couple of days after your last visit. I got into an … _altercation_ with one of the guards and was deemed too violent to be allowed with the other prisoners.” A sudden bark of laughter ripped at her throat. “ … this — this is the first time I’ve seen people other than my guards in a year.”

A frown marred Murphy’s face, but he had nothing to say to the girl standing in front of him, something he found odd. They had been friends since they were five. They were in the same classes. They lived in the same sector. They were constantly together until Euphemia was sent to the Skybox two years ago, but now for the first time since the beginning of their friendship, he didn’t know what to say to her.

“I missed you, Murph,” she said after a pregnant silence. She grabbed his hand which was rough and calloused just as she remembered it to be. “...it’s been lonely…” she admitted.

He squeezed her hand and proclaimed softly. “I missed you too, Eff.”

She effectively ruined whatever moment they were having when she abruptly snatched her hand away saying. “Well, now that we’re done with all the sappy melodramatics.” Her gaze shifted from Murphy whose face fell slightly over to her two new friends who were talking to a group that consisted of Blondie, Wells, Spacewalker, Octavia, and Bellamy.

“Hey Euphemia!” Monty called out when he noticed her stare. “We’re heading to Mount Weather.” A curious look donned her face as she contemplated joining their little ragtag group on the supply run.

“Euphemia…” Blondie said under her breath and when she looked up she locked eyes with the redhead. “Euphemia Macrae?”

Murphy stepped closer to her and eyed the blonde warily as Euphemia paled visibly but bobbed her head regardless. “That’s me,” she replied.

The blonde appeared pensive before she took a step forward and held out her hand. “Clarke,” she introduced. “Clarke Griffin.”

Euphemia felt herself deflate in what could only be relief as she grabbed Clarke’s hand with a firm grip. “Pleasure.” The handshake lasted longer than Euphemia was comfortable with as Clarke’s eyes scanned her own as though she was looking for something within their green depths.

“You gonna come with us, Mia?” Jasper asked and as Euphemia relinquished her grasp of Clarke’s hand it took her a moment to realize that he was referring to her.

“Mia?” she questioned and the name fell off of her tongue with distaste, but she answered him with. “Yeah, I’ll come.”

Murphy looked at her with surprise. “Are you serious?” he asked.

With her eyebrows furrowed she turned to him. “What?”

Murphy opened his mouth to say something, but after glimpsing at the others who had turned their attention to him, he scowled and grounded out a “nothing” before turning and walking away leaving Euphemia to watch him go with a bewildered look on her face.

“...and that makes six with Red,” Finn announced breaking up the awkward silence.


	2. River Monster

* * *

_This wasn't in the brochure._

* * *

 

The group that would head to Mount Weather was composed of Clarke, Finn, Monty, Jasper, Octavia, and Euphemia. As they headed deeper into the woods the boys were in the lead with Clarke and Octavia taking up the rear while Euphemia idled somewhere in between deliberately stepping on any leaves in her path while hoping that no one noticed the smile that formed on her face with every satisfying 'crunch' from the dying foliage.

"Before you get any ideas," she heard Octavia say. "...Finn's mine."

Clarke retorted. "Before _you_ get any ideas, I don't care."

Footsteps soon aligned themselves with Euphemia's and she took a peek at the blonde from the corner of her eye. "If it's any consolation I do not intend to compete for the affections of the Spacewalker with you."

Clarke looked perplexed at the other girl's statement, but upon seeing the corners of the redhead's mouth turn upward, Clarke realized she was joking and sent the redhead an appreciative smile. Euphemia drew away and caught up with Monty and Jasper who were walking behind Finn and Octavia observing the way the two interacted.

"Now, that my friend, is game," Jasper pointed out when Finn put a purple flower behind Octavia's ear.

Monty looked at the scene with disinterest. "That, my friend, is poison sumac," he informed as he plucked one of the purple flowers from a nearby bush.

"What?" Octavia questioned frantically as she immediately shook the flower out of her hair. "It is?!"

"The flowers aren't poisonous," reassured Monty. "They're medicinal, calming, actually." He took a bite of the flower and offered it to Euphemia. She took it from him and bit off one of the petals, amazed that the flower didn't have a bitter taste, but was rather sweet.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper explained when Finn and Octavia sent Monty questioning looks.

Clarke interrupted. "Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?" she asked impatiently.

"Come on, Clarke. How do you block all this out?" inquired Finn as he motioned to their surroundings.

"Well, it's simple," she started. "I wonder, 'Why haven't we seen any animals?' Maybe, it's because there are none. Maybe, it's because we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us," she ranted before quirking an eyebrow. "Sure is pretty, though. Come on."

As Clarke walked away, Octavia mumbled to Finn. "Someone should slip her some poison sumac." Snorts of laughter came from Finn and Jasper as the rest of the group followed after Clarke.

"I got to know what you two did to get busted," Finn said as he glanced over his shoulder at Jasper and Monty.

"Sumac isn't the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean," Monty hinted. Euphemia grinned at that figuring it would've be something like that to get the two geeky boys thrown into lockup.

"Someone forgot to replace what we took," Jasper accused.

Monty countered. "Someone has apologized, like, a _thousand_ times."

"How 'bout you Octavia, what'd they get you for?" Jasper asked the brunette whose face immediately fell.

"Being born," she grumbled angrily as she walked faster to get ahead of them.

"That is so not game," Monty teased before turning his attentions to Euphemia. "What got you locked up?"

Euphemia shrugged her shoulders. "I'd rather not say," she confessed which earned her a strange look from Finn while Monty and Jasper nodded with understanding although they'd be lying if they were to say they weren't the least bit curious why the redhead ended up in the Skybox.

When they looked ahead, they saw Clarke and Octavia kneeling down to the ground, Clarke signaling for them to be quiet. The four stragglers quickly made their way over to the two young women and fell to their knees next to them to look at what had gotten them so excited.

In the clearing up ahead there was a lone animal grazing. It wasn't a particularly beautiful animal but to the delinquents it looked absolutely magnificent and smiles erupted on all of their faces as they watched the creature go about its business.

"No animals, huh?" Finn questioned as he creeped closer to the clearing, but when he stepped on a branch with a 'snap' the creature looked up, startled.

Euphemia let out a gasp when she saw the growth on the side of the animal's face which looked like a second head that didn't form all the way. When it galloped off Euphemia was left with a sick feeling twisting in her stomach.

* * *

 

As the collection of delinquents trekked through the plush forest, conversation filled the silence. "So, how do you know that guy, Mia?" asked Jasper out of the blue.

Euphemia's brows creased together. "Murphy?" she tried to clarify.

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, the toad-looking guy."

A snort erupted from the back of Euphemia's throat as she sputtered out. "H-he does not — he doesn't…" She paused and looked off to the side in thought. "Maybe a little…" she said more to herself than to anyone else. Jasper grinned at her internal struggle and nudged her to try to get her back on course with the conversation.

"We were friends on the Ark..." she told him. "…we grew up together."

Jasper moved a bit closer to her, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "Just friends, you say?" he questioned with a suggestive undertone.

Euphemia threw him a deadpan but otherwise said nothing about the placement of his arm while Monty who had been listening to the chatter hit Jasper in the chest with the back of his hand. "Just accept that you don't have any game," he pressed.

Jasper let out a 'pfft' noise. "I do so have game!" he insisted and glanced at Euphemia for support. "I have game, don't I?"

With a sympathetic smile, she finally removed his arm from her shoulder and patted his hand softly. "You don't have game, Jasper." With a defeated groan Jasper walked ahead of his two companions who were laughing quietly to themselves at the obvious blow to his ego.

"You know," Monty started. "I never saw you in the Skybox. I'm almost positive I would remember a girl with hair like this." he said and tugged at a lock of red hair that was sticking out from underneath her hat.

Euphemia didn't miss a beat. "I got thrown into solitary after my first year," she explained. "A guard got a little too … _friendly_ …" The word tasted sour on her tongue. "Apparently punching a guard in the nose is enough to sentence you to solitary for a year."

Eyebrows were raised high on Monty's forehead as his eyes swept down the redhead's tiny form. "You really attacked a guard?" he questioned and she nodded in response. "Anything happen to him?"

"Other than a bloody nose, no," she stated. "It was the word of a felon against an esteemed member of the guard; there was no way they'd believe me." Monty frowned at that but Euphemia didn't seem bothered. A year in solitary made her less defiant if anything and she had long since let go of any grudge she held towards the man.

"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" stated Finn loudly gaining the group's attention. "Why send us down today after 97 years? What changed?"

Octavia answered. "Who cares? I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell and now I'm spinning in a forest." She grabbed hold of nearby tree and did a little twirl but when Finn walked by her without a second glance, her smile wilted.

"Maybe they found something on a satellite, you know, like an old weather satellite or —" Monty began but Clarke cut in before he could finish.

"It wasn't a satellite. The Ark is dying." Everyone stopped at that statement to turn and look at her with shock so she elaborated. "At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support. Maybe four now that we're gone." Euphemia felt something akin to rage well up inside her upon knowing she'd been sent to Earth to preserve a month's worth of oxygen for the other inhabitants of the Ark.

"So, that was the secret they locked you up to keep, why they kept you in solitary, why they floated your old man?" Finn interrogated.

Clarke's jaw set at the mention of her dad. "My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it was gonna cause a panic. We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells —" she trailed off.

"What, turned in your dad?" Finn pushed.

Clarke avoided the question by saying. "Anyway, the guards showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die at least they bought themselves some more time."

"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked with a frown.

Octavia didn't seem so troubled by the possible future deaths of those on the Ark. "Good," she stated perkily. "After what they did to me, I say, float 'em all."

"You don't mean that," Jasper insisted as he followed after Octavia.

"We have to warn them," Finn told Clarke who looked at the boy with a hint of wonder recalling: "That's what my father said."

"Oh, I love Earth," Jasper voiced aloud when the rest of the group caught up with him.

They all watched as Octavia shed her outer layers of clothing; the boys with a deep appreciation for the female form while Clarke and Euphemia were in shock at the girl's brazen act. "Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke demanded.

The brunette didn't say anything, only looking over at the group for a moment before jumping off the rocky ledge and into the water below, a satisfying 'splash' filling the air. When the group hurried over to see where Octavia had gone, they found her peering at them from the water.

"I can't swim," Monty admitted.

"You can stand, can't you?" Octavia asked and stood up showing that the water was only waist deep.

"Wait. There's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke realized.

"Well, there is," Finn asserted. "So take off your damn clothes."

Euphemia remained unconvinced as she stared into the murky water while everyone else began to shed their clothing. "This doesn't feel right," she remarked and when Jasper ordered Octavia to get out of the water panic began to bubble in her stomach.

"Get of the water now!" repeated Jasper.

Octavia looked back nervously and saw a large form coming at her in the water, but at that point it was too late. As the creature dragged her under the water there was nothing the rest of the group could do but watch in horror.

When she resurfaced a few yards away from them, they hurried over to align themselves with her and the creature on the rocks. "What the hell is that?" Monty asked when he got a good look at the animal that had a firm hold on Octavia who was screaming for help whenever the creature allowed for her to break the surface of the water.

"We have to help her," said Finn as he started to take off his clothes again.

"What're you gonna do?" Jasper asked.

Finn replied. "Try not to get eaten."

"That is not a _plan_!" Euphemia said to the boy, but he just gave her a wary smile all the while continuing to strip.

"No. Wait," Clarke ordered holding a hand in front of Finn to stop him from diving into the water. "If we distract it, it might let her go." Clarke bent down to loosen one of the large stones from the ledge. "Help me."

Euphemia rushed to her side and with her help Clarke sent the tiny boulder careening down into the water. The creature upon realizing something else had entered the water quickly made its way towards the group after letting go of Octavia.

"Octavia, get to the shore now!" Jasper called out as he scrambled over to the shoreline where Octavia was struggling to stay above water just a few feet away. When Jasper jumped in to grab hold of Octavia and help her back onto land, the creature turned and darted towards the pair.

"It's coming back!" someone shouted.

Euphemia stopped breathing as she watched the creature narrowly miss the two who had safely made it to the rocky ledge. Clarke began to tend to Octavia's wound while Octavia thanked her savior who seemed pleased by the female's attention.

Clarke assured Octavia that she was going to be okay before Monty stated. "Note to self — save the girl."

Everyone laughed as he patted Jasper on the back, but Euphemia was too busy staring into the water watching for any signs that the creature might come back. "It looked like a snake," she affirmed softly so that only Monty and Finn were able to hear her. "Snakes aren't supposed to get that big," she said recalling one particular Earth Studies class she had taken where they discussed reptiles.

Finn just looked at her grimly while Monty gave her a gentle pat on the back telling her to not think about it so much. Regardless, this encounter made her all the more fearful of Earth as she realized that it was nothing like what she read about in books.


	3. Grounders

* * *

_This is where we panic._

* * *

 

 

"Are we sure this is the best way to get over?" Euphemia questioned unsurely as she looked at the vine that was supposed to let them pass over the infested river without the risk of losing a limb.

"Scared of heights?" Monty teased and Euphemia blanched before quickly denying her phobia although it made her feel better that despite being the first to volunteer Finn was also having doubts about the plan.

"You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling," Clarke told him. "Mount Weather awaits."

"Just hang on till the apogee and you'll be fine," Jasper assured him Finn who gripped the vine nervously.

"The apogee like the Indians, right?" Finn questioned with a playful lilt in his voice.

"Native Americans!" Euphemia corrected.

"Apogee, not Apache," clarified Jasper.

"He knows. Today, Finn," Clarke pressured.

Finn saluted Clarke saying. "Aye, aye, Captain. See you on the other side." As he geared up to make the jump, Jasper stopped him. "What?"

"Let me," Jasper said and when Finn took a glance down at a smiling Octavia he understood the young man's sudden burst of confidence. "I can do it."

As he handed the vine over to Jasper he told him. "Knew there was a badass in there somewhere." A laugh escaped from Jasper albeit a shaky laugh as he tightened his grip and his eyes scanned the vine. "It's okay to be afraid, Jasper," said Finn. "The trick is not fighting it."

That seemed to be enough to ease Jasper's nerves. "See you on the other side." With that he took off, swinging through the air with shouts of excitement. He landed none too gracefully on the other side and when he stood up he yelled. "We are apogee!" Cheers echoed through the air as they were one step closer to getting to Mount Weather. As Clarke prepared to swing the gap, Jasper found a sign on the ground. "We made it!" he announced as he held up the sign that said 'Mount Weather'.

The excitement was cut short as a spearlike object went sailing through the air and directly into Jasper's chest. "Jasper!" Euphemia's cries melded together with everyone else's.

"Get down, get down!" Finn yelled as he pulled Clarke down. Euphemia nearly tripped over herself as she tried to duck down and she peered over Monty's shoulder at the wooded area in front of them.

There was movement in the forest as the tree branches snapped and shadows slinked through the tree line. "We're not alone," Clarke realized.

"We need to go," Euphemia announced apprehensively.

Agreement came in the form of everyone scrambling to their feet and making a run for it. Their feet pounded against the soft ground of the woods as they weaved in and out of trees. Euphemia led the group in what she had hoped was the right direction and when she heard a 'thump' she practically skidded to a halt to look behind her where she saw Monty had fallen.

"Monty, get up!" Octavia whispered desperately as she tried to help the boy up, but he was too preoccupied with the skeleton that he had landed in front of.

Euphemia grabbed hold of his arm and hoisted him off the ground with a strength she didn't realize she had. "Up, up!"

"Who are they?" questioned Finn.

Clarke picked up the skull off the ground examining the excessively large brow bone and otherwise deformed features. " _What_  are they?"

"We are so screwed," Octavia whimpered.

A scream in the distance caused Clarke to drop the skull and the group looked behind them. "Jasper. He's alive." With that Clarke took off with everyone following behind her trying to get her to stop.

"Wait, wait!" Finn begged when he got a grip on the fleeing blonde. "Stay in the trees."

"He was right there," Monty stated when they saw the spot where Jasper had been was now empty. "No. Where is he?" Uneasiness fell on the group as they glanced around for any sign of their friend but all that was left of him was a trail of blood smeared along the stone.

"They took him," Clarke worked out and Euphemia knew that no matter what the reason was for them taking Jasper it wasn't a good one.

They ran practically the entire way back to the drop ship in fear that whoever or whatever took Jasper would come back for them. Euphemia's lungs were burning and her legs felt like jelly but it wasn't until she heard the distinct hoots and hollers of the fellow delinquents did she feel the least bit reposed. However, when they got closer they noticed that there was a fight going on between two of the drop ship's inhabitants. Unsurprisingly to Euphemia, one of the fighters was Murphy.

"Wells!" Clarke yelled when she saw Wells with a knife to Murphy's throat. "Let him go!" she ordered as she stalked towards the two young men.

Wells did as he was told only to have Murphy try to go back at him with knife at hand. "Enough, Murphy!" Bellamy commanded as he pushed Murphy back, but when he saw his sister limping down the embankment with Monty's assistance, he rushed to her side. "Octavia!"

Murphy stepped forward as if to go for Wells again, but Euphemia stood in his path with a stony look in her eye. "Enough," she told him with finality and she received a scowl from him, but that she could handle, him dying or getting seriously injured due to his bruised ego was something she wouldn't be able to live with.

"Where's the food?" Bellamy asked when he realized the group had come back empty-handed. Finn was the one to tell him that they had not made it to Mount Weather. "What the hell happened out there?"

"We were attacked," Clarke blurted out.

"Attacked? By what?" enquired Wells.

"Not what," Finn said. " _Who_. Turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder."

"It's true," Clarke confirmed. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

Finn followed up by saying. "Bad news is, the Grounders will."

Silence enveloped the group and Wells looked around before asking. "Where's the kid with the goggles?"

"Jasper got hit," Euphemia spoke up and Clarke concluded with: "They took him." Clarke's train of thought got derailed as she caught sight of Wells' barren wrist. "Where's your wristband?" she questioned as she grabbed hold of his arm.

Wells tore his wrist from her and motioned to Bellamy. "Ask him."

Clarke's nostrils flared as she stepped towards Bellamy. "How many?" she asked.

It wasn't Bellamy that answered, but Murphy. "Twenty-four and counting." Euphemia gave him a disbelieving look and smacked his chest which Murphy took with a grunt.

"You idiots," grounded out Clarke. "Life support on the Ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them. You're killing us!"

Bellamy glanced around at the crowd surrounding them. "We're stronger than you think," he countered. "Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same?" There were murmurs amongst the delinquents. "We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes! I say you're not criminals!" A chorus of agreement echoed. "You're fighters, survivors! The grounders should worry about us!"

As cheers erupted, Clarke walked away angrily with Monty following after her. Euphemia went to accompany them, but a tug on her arm prevented her from going anywhere. She studied Murphy's bloodied face before trailing down to the hand that was gripping her arm tightly.

"Let go, Murph," It didn't come out as an order, but rather a tender request.

Murphy shook his head. "They're not your people," he asserted and refused to relinquish his hold of her.

"Please, Murph," implored Euphemia who looked into his eyes with distress. "I need to go help them."

He was quiet for a moment before asking. "What about me?"

She took a step forward relieving herself of the strain his grasp was causing her arm. "What about you?" she repeated and then looked around at the rowdy teenagers around them. "It seems like you're doing just fine without me."

Murphy's jaw clenched as he released his grip on her arm, but before he could take a step back she grabbed at the front of his jacket and pulled him closer to her. His eyes caught hers for a moment before he focused them on the ground unwilling to let her see how much this hurt him.

"You're my best friend, Murph," she assured him. "Don't ever think I don't care for you, but right now Jasper needs me more. I'm not turning my back on you, please don't think that I am." She let her hand linger a bit before turning and walking away, trailing after Monty and Clarke leaving Murphy in a state of despondence.


	4. Operation: Rescue

* * *

  _I've never been much of a cat person anyway._

* * *

When Euphemia found Monty and Clarke they were in the drop ship; Monty was busy looking for anything useful on the bottom level while Clarke was up top. Euphemia joined Monty scavenging through whatever it was they could take from the ship.

Wells entered the ship not too long after Euphemia had and he immediately went to find Clarke. Monty and Euphemia could hear the two arguing, but didn't do anything other then share a look with their brows raised.

"Good, give it someone else. You're not coming with us," They heard Clarke say to Wells who insisted that his ankle was fine. "It's not your ankle, Wells, it's you."

Euphemia let a "harsh" out under her breath, but otherwise said nothing as Clarke made her way down the ladder with Wells close behind. The redhead shifted away from the arguing pair and tried her best to ignore their fighting as she grabbed the pack Monty had made for her.

"You came back for reinforcements. I'm gonna help," argued Wells.

"Clarke, he's right," Monty spoke up. "We need him. So far no one else has volunteered."

"I'm sorry, Monty, but you're not going either," Clarke declared.

Monty closed the gap between them with his jaw clenched and eyes blazing. "Like hell I'm not. Jasper's my best friend," he growled.

"You're too important," informed Clarke gently as she tried to calm the boy down. "You were raised on farm station and recruited by engineering."

"So?" questioned Monty.

" _So_  food and communication. What's up here, it's gonna save us all." She pointed at his head for emphasis. "You figure out how to talk to the Ark and I'll bring Jasper back."

Monty didn't look all too convinced and Euphemia gave him a slap on the back. "Don't worry. I'm expendable so I'll be going," she joked trying to lighten his mood but the most she got out of him was a weak smile.

"Are you ready?" Clarke questioned Finn when he entered the drop ship.

Finn shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere and neither should any of you. That spear was thrown with pinpoint accuracy from 300 feet," he urged.

"So what, we let Jasper die?" Monty enquired angrily.

"That's not gonna happen," Clarke quickly said to Monty before turning to Finn with disappointment on her features. "Spacewalker? What a joke. You think you're such an adventurer you're really just a coward."

"It's not an adventure, Clarke, it's a suicide mission," Finn claimed but Clarke just shook her head and looked back at Euphemia to see if she was ready to leave.

Euphemia followed after Clarke without a word to Finn, gripping at her homemade pack that Monty had helped her make from some scraps they'd found on the ship. "You don't have to come with me," Clarke said once they were out of earshot from those in the drop ship. "If you want to stay behind I won't fault you."

Euphemia gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Like I told Monty, I'm expendable. If I were to die it wouldn't be that big of a loss to the group. I don't really have any special skills or talents."

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows at the girl who looked sincere in her confession. "People would care if you died," Clarke told her and tried to lift her spirits. "Besides, everyone has a talent even if they don't think it's a talent."

"I sing," Euphemia responded after a moment of debate. " … I like to sing," she clarified because in all honesty she did not know if she was any good.

Clarke smiled softly. "See? You do have a talent." When they approached Octavia who was being tended to by Bellamy with Murphy standing idly by they heard the tail end of the conversation between the brother and sister.

"You could have been killed," Bellamy reprimanded his younger sister.

"She would have been if Jasper hadn't pulled her out," Clarke told him as she and Euphemia joined them. Bellamy looked at Clarke with annoyance in his eyes and Murphy seemed to be trying to avoid Euphemia's gaze.

Octavia started to get up. "You guys leaving? I'm coming, too."

Bellamy put a hand on her shoulder preventing her from getting up. "No, no. Not again," he said.

"He's right," stated Clarke. "Your leg's just gonna slow us down." She turned to Bellamy. "I'm here for you."

Euphemia blinked in surprise at Clarke's declaration and Wells who had come up behind them asked her. "Clarke, what are you doing?"

"I hear you have a gun." Bellamy answered her by pulling up the hem of his shirt to reveal the handgun. "Good. Follow me," she ordered.

"And why would I do that?" Bellamy questioned.

Clarke's eyes narrowed. "Because you want  _them_  to follow  _you_ , and right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared." There was reluctance in his eyes and as Clarke walked away a smirk was implanted on her face knowing she'd caught him.

Wells and Euphemia shadowed Clarke while Bellamy ordered around a few of his subordinates. "Murphy, come with me. Atom? My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"

"She's real ballsy," Euphemia mentioned jutting her chin out at Clarke who walked ahead of them. "I like it."

Wells tried to hide his smile at the girl's admission and he couldn't help but think she was right, although Clarke had always been this way, it was just who she was. The two hastened their pace to catch up with Clarke; Euphemia was still feeling the burn from their earlier excursion through the woods and she didn't want to admit it but she was having trouble keeping up.

"Hey, hold up," Bellamy called out. "What's the rush? You don't survive a spear to the heart." He was waving the gun around with a cocky smirk on. Euphemia eyed the weapon warily and unconsciously took a step back.

Wells was the one to say. "Put the gun away, Bellamy."

Murphy got in between Wells and Bellamy, shoving the boy. "Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?" Murphy hissed.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. Which means we don't have time to waste," explained Clarke.

"As soon as you and Red over here take your wristbands off, we can go," Bellamy stated and he was met with cold looks from both girls.

Clarke stepped up to him. "The only way the Ark is gonna think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?"

"Brave Princess." Bellamy commented condescendingly.

From behind them a voice called out. "Hey, why don't you find your own nicknames?" Finn approached the group. "You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground." He immediately looked to the blonde. "Clarke, come with me."

The four other members of the group hung behind them and watched their figures disappeared into the brush. As Wells and Bellamy headed one way, Euphemia went to walk after them only to have Murphy grab onto her hand, leading her in the opposite direction of the fork.

"We shouldn't stray too far from the others," said Euphemia as she gripped her pack with her free hand.

Murphy rolled his eyes. "We'll be fine," he reassured with aggravation lacing his voice.

"Are you mad at me?" Euphemia suddenly asked not liking the bitterness he displayed. He looked over at her with a pointed look as if that gave her a definitive answer. "You've never been mad at me," she voiced quietly.

His eyes trailed to her lips which were set in a frown and then up to her eyes which had glossed over. He let out an exasperated sigh and tugged her by the sleeve making her walk closer to him. "You know I can't stand it when you cry," he disclosed. He never cared much for most women considering how his mother treated him after his father had been floated, but the sight of the redhead's tears always made him feel guilty even as they've grown older.

"Please don't be mad at me," she implored.

"I'm… I'm not mad at you," he said. "I just don't understand why it's so important that you go after this kid. He's probably dead, anyway."

She pursed her lips at that. "He's one of us. You said so yourself," she stated. "We protect our own."

"Yeah, and what if someone gets killed trying to find him?" Murphy questioned.

"At least we can say we tried," she countered.

Murphy remained unconvinced but said nothing else about the matter knowing it would only result in a fight between the two. The subject was changed when a thought flickered in Murphy's head. "Today … it's your birthday, isn't it?" Euphemia looked over at him and nodded wordlessly. "You would've been up for review."

Euphemia frowned. "No, I wouldn't."

A confused look dawned his face. "All juvenile delinquents get reviewed when they turn eighteen."

"Not me," she mumbled. "I'm considered too high risk to put back into population, I would've been floated today." His mouth went dry at that and all the anger that was built up for Chancellor Jaha only intensified. "It's fine, though," she reasoned with him. "Looks like they won't have the chance to float me after all."

"What happens if they come down here?" he asked. "If they were going to float you on the Ark do you think they're going to change their minds down here?"

"The Chancellor said our crimes will be forgiven, I hope he'll keep that promise," she responded but even she didn't believe her own words. If Monty did end up finding a way to communicate with the Ark and they come to the ground she didn't have any doubt she'd be executed. She wouldn't be spared, not after what she did.

Murphy glowered at that. "I wouldn't put too much faith in that."

"Guys!" They heard Clarke call out. "This way, we found a trail!"

A short while later the group was following along the creek when Murphy asked with doubt apparent in his voice. "How do we know we're going the right way?"

"We don't," Bellamy stated flatly. "Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker."

Wells rolled his eyes. "It's called 'cutting sign', Fourth-year Earth Skills, he's good."

"You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Finn grumbled as he came across a branch that was broken and hanging. He knelt down to the ground seeing droplets of fresh blood splattered on the rocks.

A moan in the distance caught everyone's attention. "What the hell was that?" Murphy questioned.

"Jasper…" Euphemia whispered as Clarke told Bellamy: "Now would be a good time to get out that gun."

They crept through the underbrush as silently as they could while following the sounds of the low-pitched groans. When they came to a clearing they saw a battered and bloodied Jasper strung up in a tree.

"Oh God, Jasper," Euphemia croaked at the state of the boy who looked to be barely alive.

"Clarke, be careful," Finn ordered as Clarke led the group closer to Jasper, Bellamy was trying to slow the blonde down and it was lucky he was because she nearly ended up at the bottom of a spike filled pit.

"Clarke!" Finn yelled. "Get her up!"

"Pull her up! Pull her up!" Wells repeated as everyone scrambled to pull the blonde up to safety.

Euphemia was the one to ask if she was okay as she brushed off the grass and dirt from Clarke once the other girl had stood herself up. "Yeah," Clarke assured despite the shake in her voice. Her focus turned back onto Jasper. "We need to get him down."

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines," Finn announced.

Wells agreed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm with you."

Finn shook his head, "No, stay with Clarke and watch him." His gaze shifted to Bellamy before ordering Murphy to come with him which Murphy did with a look of disdain on his face.

"Clarke," Euphemia caught the blonde's attention and pointed to the green glob on Jasper's chest where the spear had hit him. "…what is that?" she enquired.

"It's a poultice," Clarke explained and Euphemia nodded as though she understood exactly what that was.

"Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells asked.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes its dinner to be breathing," Bellamy speculated.

Finn opposed. "Maybe what they're trying to catch is us."

"This could be a warning," Euphemia mentioned. "...if the river was a barrier they built declaring Mount Weather off limits then maybe this was a warning for what would happen if we tried to cross again."

Grave expressions sank into their faces as they realized the redhead was probably right and if she was that would mean their chances of getting to Mount Weather had just gone down exponentially with the threat of the Grounders looming over them.

"Hurry up," Finn urged as he and Murphy struggled to untie Jasper.

Clarke warned them. "Be careful."

Growling in the distance disturbed their ministrations. "What the hell was that?" inquired Murphy.

"Grounders?" Bellamy drawled unsurely.

Euphemia focused on the motion in the brush that surrounded them, catching sight of an enormous feline shape and a swaying tail. "I don't think that's a Grounder," she quavered as she backed up towards the tree.

A hand on the collar of her jacket jerked her vision from the approaching cat. "Get up here!" Murphy hissed as he hauled the girl up into the tree like she was a rag doll. She held tightly to his sleeve and struggled to maintain her footing as she watched the large cat start to charge towards the group that remained on the ground.

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke commanded with fear.

Bellamy went to grab the gun in his waistband only to find it wasn't there instead it was Wells who began firing on the animal which tried to snake around to attack Bellamy, but a final bullet in its head put it down for good.

The gun clicked as it ran out of bullets.

"Now she sees you," Euphemia heard Bellamy say to Wells.

Euphemia's gaze turned to Murphy and she let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, her head falling onto Murphy's shoulder as she finally felt herself grow fatigued from the past day's events.


	5. Too Close for Comfort

_I believe I'm a good person._

* * *

It was dark by the time they got back to camp with Jasper. Clarke was getting everything prepped to treat him while Bellamy and Murphy dropped the carcass of the predator turned prey on the ground. "Who's hungry?!" Bellamy questioned loudly.

There was a round of cheers as the delinquents were excited about the prospect of having a decent meal to fill their empty bellies. Meanwhile, Euphemia was helping Clarke with whatever she needed despite Clarke telling her she needed to rest.

"Jasper comes first," Euphemia had insisted and Clarke smiled tenderly at the girl whose eyes had grown weary with want of sleep.

Clarke relented when she saw the redhead wasn't going to abide by her requests. "All right."

After they had finally gotten him stable, Clarke and Euphemia joined the others outside where they had roasted the cat and were handing out portions in exchange for the delinquents taking off their wristbands which most did without so much of a second thought.

"They're taking off their wristbands for food?" Clarke questioned. "I-I won't do it. No way," she declared despite the hunger pains that stabbed away at her stomach.

"You don't have to," Finn assured her as he strolled over to where they were handing out food and took a portion for him and Clarke.

Euphemia followed suit and grabbed some for herself as she overheard Murphy say to Finn: "You think you play by different rules?"

"I thought there were no rules," Finn remarked before walking off.

Murphy's gaze turned to Euphemia who was chewing the meat thoughtfully and with a shrug she walked off back into the ship to keep an eye on Jasper while Monty was busy trying to rewire the wristbands.

"Do you want some?" she asked Monty while holding out the stick with the meat strewn on it. "It's pretty good for jungle cat."

Monty looked up from what he was doing and accepted the food with a smile. "Thanks."

Euphemia grinned and sat back down with Jasper who she made sure was still breathing out of her own paranoia that he would slip away when no one was watching. The boy had a light sheen of sweat covering his body and while Clarke had cleaned his wounds there was still dirt and grime stuck to spots of his face and exposed abdomen. He was so pale; paler than Euphemia had ever seen and the dark circles under his eyes stuck out against the gauntness of his face.

She grabbed his clammy hand and held onto it tightly, taking in a deep breath, singing softly. " _Enjoy the scenery_ ,  _don't know how long it will last, you say it dreamily as if we'd already passed it by, break open the sky, forcing up a black sunrise, break open the sky, forcing up a black sunrise, break open the sky, it's more than I can leave behind..."_ She continued to hum the song; the rest of the lyrics being lost to her now.

It was the crash of the hatch being slammed shut that startled her and abruptly ended her song. She glanced back at Monty who had looked up with alarm at the loud noise.

"I guess someone didn't like my singing," Euphemia joked.

Monty laughed softly under his breath. "I thought it was lovely."

A smile grew on Euphemia's face as her cheeks burned. "Thanks," she said sheepishly.

It was nearing late into the night as everyone was settling down for sleep and Euphemia could still be heard humming lightly to Jasper whose hand she still had firmly in her grip. It was when he started to groan in pain did she stop, her brows coming together with worry.

"Monty?" she called out to the young man who had fallen asleep some time ago. "Monty!" she repeated when she didn't get an answer.

Monty awoke with a start and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "W-what? Is everything okay?" he questioned.

Euphemia shook her head as Jasper let out another heart-wrenching moan. "Something's wrong," she responded. "Go get Clarke." Monty nodded and clambered up from the floor practically tripping over his own feet as he made his way to the hatch disappearing down the ladder.

Jasper's whimpers were becoming louder and his body squirmed around with discomfort. The hand that Euphemia was holding constricted and his face contorted into that of pain.

"It's gonna be okay, Jasper," she whispered to him and pushed back the hair from his face with her other hand. "You're gonna be okay."

"What happened?" Clarke enquired as she came up the ladder.

"I-I don't know," Euphemia stuttered as Clarke sat down across from her on Jasper's other side. "He just started making noise like he's in pain or something."

Clarke frowned and felt for the boy's pulse while taking out an old wristwatch after a few moments she announced quietly. "His pulse is thready."

Jasper let out another loud moan and someone from the lower level shouted: "Go back to sleep!" and another yelled: "Quiet!"

Euphemia frowned and Clarke looked off to the side with annoyance in her eyes. "Don't listen to them," she said as she leaned over Jasper. "You're gonna make it through this, okay? Promise."

Monty's gaze flickered from Clarke to Euphemia whose eyes hardened as she heard someone say: "Can he just die already?"

"I'm gonna get clean water," Clarke stated as she got up. "Keep an eye on him."

Euphemia bobbed her head and watched as Clarke descended the ladder before she started to sing again louder whenever Jasper let out a groan trying to block out the shouts from the lower level.

It wasn't until Euphemia awoke the next morning did she even realize she had gone to sleep. Clarke noticed green eyes on her and smiled tightly at the girl. "You have a strong grip," she said and motioned to Jasper and hers interlocking hands. "You wouldn't let go for anything."

Euphemia chuckled and pried her hand from Jasper's feeling how cramped up it had gotten. "Sorry, I hope I wasn't in the way," she apologized.

Clarke shook her head. "No, you weren't," she reassured and then said to the girl. "Why don't you go get some fresh air?" Euphemia sent an unsure look to the blonde, but Clarke practically pushed her down the hatch. "Go. It'll do you some good," she urged and at the last second she flung down a canteen to Euphemia. "Fill this up with some water, too!"

Euphemia found Murphy and Bellamy practicing their knife throwing a couple of yards from camp. As Murphy went to throw his knife, she heard Jasper's moaning from the drop ship and the knife bounced off the tree with a clatter. "It's that damn kid, all right, he's messing with my head," Murphy said with irritation and his eyes caught Euphemia's.

"He's not gonna last much longer. Better think of a new excuse," Bellamy told him as he let his homemade hatchet rip through the air, hitting its mark with ease. "That's how it's done."

A few more of Bellamy's lackeys came from the tree line informing Bellamy that they had not found two of the drop ship's inhabitants that had gone missing the first day. "Visit your special tree when you were out there?" Murphy quipped with a smirk on his face as he went to pick up his knife.

"Atom took his punishment," Bellamy said to Murphy. "Let it go."

"It could be Grounders," Atom informed trying to ignore Murphy who came up behind him.

"Or they could be in pound town. Lot of that going around recently," Murphy remarked and his eyes strayed to Euphemia for a moment before turning to look at Bellamy who noticed the exchange.

Bellamy looked over at Euphemia. "There a reason you're here?"

"I need Murphy for like fifteen minutes," she informed him and Bellamy looked between the two as if he was debating. Despite the fact the girl hung around Clarke and the rest of the do-gooders, she had not yet given him a reason to dislike her and that was enough for Bellamy to allow Murphy to go along with her with a wave of his hand.

Murphy followed after the girl. "Where are we going?" he asked as she led him further from camp.

She glanced back at him, "There's a little spring that Finn and Clarke found yesterday. I need to fill this up with some water and I'm hoping to get some of this grime off of me," she said before adding: "I didn't think it was a good idea to go alone."

It was a five minute walk to the spring and once she had filled the canteen, she took off her hat and flung it on the rocky shoreline. Murphy watched curiously as she began to shed her outer layers of clothing and he could feel his face heat up as she unbuttoned her pants dropping them to the ground unceremoniously.

The water was frigid against her bare skin but despite that it was one of the greatest feelings she's ever experienced. She let out a content sigh as she scrubbed off the dirt from her body completely unaware of Murphy's stare. It wasn't but a couple of minutes later did she deem herself clean enough and she stepped out of the water, the tank top she wore clinging to her abdomen sending Murphy into an internal frenzy. She shook the water out of her hair and began to wring out the excess water from her tank top showing Murphy a glimpse of her stomach.

When she finally noticed Murphy's gaze he shifted his line of sight to the ground near her feet. "You all right?" she asked upon seeing his face turn an unnatural shade of red. Murphy didn't say anything instead he opted to avoid eye contact with her and nod wordlessly. Realization seemed to dawn on her. "Ah, shit. I'm sorry. I didn't even ask if you minded, I just — I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

His eyes returned to hers once more and he managed to sputter out. "N-no, it's fine. I don't mind." His gaze shifted down her body almost involuntarily and it was her turn to flush.

"O-oh," she squeaked. "I…"

Her sentence trailed off as Murphy stepped closer and closer until he was inches from her. Their eyes met and she felt his rough touch graze underneath her jawline. His face drew near hers and a sudden wave of nerves wracked her body.

"We should head back," she stated without warning and pulled away from his touch to gather her clothes off the ground.

He watched her dress silently and trailed behind her as she set off into the woods in the direction of their camp thinking that maybe he had made a big mistake but there was no denying the look in her eyes when he was about to kiss her was anything but want.

A loud agonizing scream ripped through the air when they reached camp. "Jasper," she had whispered before taking off running leaving Murphy with a scowl on his face as he watched her disappear into the drop ship.

Octavia had made it up the ladder before her and Euphemia heard her tell Clarke. "Stop it! You're killing him."

"She's trying to save his life," Finn informed Octavia.

Euphemia was at Jasper's side stroking the side of his face as he writhed in pain while Clarke was trying to cut away the infected flesh from his wound.

"You can't," Bellamy told Clarke and Wells was the one to step up and tell the self-proclaimed leader to back off.

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die," Clarke stated.

"Kid's a goner. If you can't see that, you're deluded. He's making people crazy," said Bellamy.

Clarke sucked in air through her teeth. "Sorry if Jasper's an  _inconvenience_  to you, but this isn't the Ark. Down here, every life matters."

"Take a look at him. He's a lost cause," Bellamy remarked unsympathetically.

There was a round of silence before Clarke responded. "I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope."

Bellamy scoffed. "This isn't about hope, it's about guts. You don't have the guts to make hard choices. I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself." He looked to his sister as he was leaving. "Octavia, let's go."

"I'm staying here," Octavia declared and after a moment of head shaking Bellamy took his leave.

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass," Monty grumbled. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself." He took a glance over at Octavia before adding on: "No offense."

Finn spoke up. "Yeah. Bellamy is all of that, but he also happens to be right."

Everyone stared at him with disbelief and Clarke after she finished bandaging Jasper took her leave with Finn and Wells following not very long after. Euphemia resumed her position next to Jasper with his hand in hers whispering to him. "You're not a lost cause."

Octavia smiled weakly at the redhead. "You care an awful lot about him despite having just met him."

Euphemia gave an unconvincing shrug of her shoulders. "What can I say? I'm a people person." Octavia shook her head at that and told Euphemia that she didn't believe it was just that. "Jasper is a good person; he's kind and funny and sweet," Euphemia finally said. "He deserves better than to be taken out back and shot like he's some wounded animal who no longer has its use."

Octavia laid a hand over hers. "I know," she assured. "I won't let my brother kill him."

Silence recommenced shortly after and then it wasn't too long before Euphemia started to hum a familiar tune which eased the tense air that had formed if only for a little while.

* * *

 


	6. Wake Up

_The Sun will come out tomorrow._

* * *

About an hour later everyone came rushing into the ship closing up all the vents and the main door while coughing profusely. "What's going on?" Monty asked.

"Air got thick; everyone's skin started burning," one girl said through a coughing fit.

"My brother's out there," Octavia said.

"He'll be fine," Monty was quick to say. "We'll all be fine."

Euphemia rested her hand reassuringly on Octavia's shoulder. "If your brother is anything, it's a survivor," she said to the brunette who gave her a tight smile which showed she appreciated the redhead's optimism.

Night soon came but the fog remained meaning the delinquents were forced to haul up inside the drop ship for the night which was a tight fit if anything. That paired with Jasper's groans meant that the tensions within the ship were running high.

Euphemia had left Jasper's time for the first time since Clarke had informed them that her, Finn, and Wells were going to look for some sort of red seaweed with antibiotic properties. There were complaints coming from those on the bottom level and she shared a look of annoyance with Monty who was taking a break from trying to figure out how to communicate with the Ark.

"That's it," she heard Murphy say as he got up from his homemade hammock. "… I'm ending this."

"I heard Bellamy gave him until tomorrow," said a girl from nearby.

"Yeah, well, Bellamy isn't here, is he?" Murphy pointed out. "The kid's dying anyway. I'm just getting it over with."

Panic bubbled in her stomach as she inched closer to Monty. "Go!" Euphemia whispered hastily to him and pushed him towards the ladder which he scrambled up announcing to Octavia what Murphy's intentions were. Murphy received a kick in the face when he tried to get through the hatch which was closed on him.

"I'm gonna kill that kid!" Murphy shouted. "Let me in, Monty!"

Euphemia grabbed onto his pant legs trying to pull him from the ladder to buy Octavia and Monty some time if anything. "Get down!" she ordered.

"Get off of me, Eff!" Murphy yelled at her and tried to kick her away. "Both of you better open up this hatch,  _right now_!"

With an exasperated sigh, Euphemia held tightly to one of his legs before pulling back with all of her weight, sending her and Murphy flying to the ground. When he tried to get back up, Euphemia held onto him securely not allowing him the chance to climb the ladder again.

"Effy!" he growled. "Let go!"

She shook her head in a frenzy and refused to give him any slack. "No," she grounded out. "You can't kill him," she said through gritted teeth.

"Why not?!" Murphy demanded angrily. "Why are you protecting him?!" When he didn't receive an answer he continued to yell and fight against her. "Tell me why!"

"Because nobody protected me!" she blurted out and that was enough for Murphy to stop struggling. His shocked look made her want to walk out into the poisonous fog and she regretted her confession immensely.

"Effy…" he mumbled. "I…"

Euphemia shook her head. "Just don't…" she begged. "Leave Jasper be. If not for him then for me."

Murphy stood down and watched as she walked back over to the hatch, knocking on it before announcing. "It's Euphemia."

The hatch creaked open and once she disappeared into the opening it shut again and the sound of metal scraping against metal signified they had blocked it off again. Murphy sat on his hammock ignoring the stares he knew he was getting from those who were awake to witness his outburst.

"Are you okay?" Octavia asked Euphemia who had a glossy look to her eyes.

Euphemia nodded her head and mumbled a "I'm fine" although Octavia didn't look like she believed the redhead. Monty came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder in a form of comfort which Euphemia appreciated and placed her own hand on top of Monty's giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Monty and Octavia fell asleep a little later on to Euphemia humming sweetly, the sound of her voice overpowering the whimpers from Jasper. When Euphemia looked over to find her two companions fast asleep she turned back to Jasper whispering. "No one is gonna hurt you, Jasper, not while I'm around."

The next day was long and anxiety-ridden as they waited for not only Clarke's group but the group Bellamy took hunting to get back. Many feared that they had succumbed to the acidic fog on their way back and did not find shelter in time.

Relief swelled in Euphemia's chest when she saw Clarke appear in the hatch and she helped the blonde force the tea made from the red seaweed into Jasper's mouth with Finn, Monty, and Octavia standing idly by watching anxiously.

"You'll keep an eye on him?" Clarke asked Octavia and Euphemia who both nodded instinctively.

When it was just Euphemia, Octavia, Monty, and Jasper left Monty took hold of the bottle that Finn had slipped him when they came back to camp. He gave it a sniff before throwing his head back and taking a sip only to cough as the liquid burned his throat. "Smooth," he commented sarcastically.

Euphemia took a sip from the bottle once Monty offered it to her and she grimaced. "Well, that's awful."

Octavia had the same reaction. "Disgusting. Love it."

"Can I, uh, get a hit of that?" came a voice none of them had heard in quite a few days.

"Jasper!" Euphemia cried out. They all gathered around him and Euphemia insisted he start with something a little less fermented as she held a pouch of water to his mouth which he accepted eagerly.

"Welcome back." Monty said as he took Jasper's hand in his own.

Jasper laid back down before saying. "Was that a dream or did I get speared?"

"You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it," Clarke told him as she made her appearance.

Jasper smiled at the blonde. "My savior."

"Thank you for not dying," Clarke stated. "I don't think I could've taken that today."

Jasper responded. "I'll try not to die tomorrow, too, if that's cool." He looked around at the group that had gathered at his side, voicing a sly 'hello' to Octavia who laughed before he said. "Y'know, I swear I heard the most angelic voice singing to me. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven."

Monty pushed Euphemia forward a bit. "That would be the lovely stylings of Euphemia Macrae."

Jasper smiled at the redhead. "I would appreciate it if you kept doing that."

Euphemia laughed and nodded. "Anything for you."

He laid his head back down and closed his eyes as he listened to Euphemia sing him back into unconsciousness. Things were beginning to look up for their band of delinquents.


	7. Goodbye

_Until we meet again..._

* * *

Wells was found dead the morning after. Clarke had spent the majority of the next few days by his freshly dug grave outside of the wall that was in the process of being built. Euphemia had watched the girl's face fall when Bellamy informed him that one of his men had found Wells early in the morning with his neck slit and two fingers missing. It was assumed that a Grounder had got him, but Euphemia wasn't too sure that was the case.

While she wasn't going to deny the presence of the Grounders in the forest around their camp she couldn't understand why now of all times they would choose to attack one of the delinquents. Jasper was speared as an example of what would happen should the group cross the boundaries that were set which they hadn't attempted to do since they first made it to Earth.

Of course she kept quiet about her opinions not knowing what would happen if the blame turned from the Grounders to one of their own, but she reckoned that there would be an all out witch hunt if that were to occur.

Murphy had tried pulling her aside numerous times to talk, but since her outburst she has not had a desire to talk to him, choosing instead to stay by Jasper's side. Jasper didn't seem to mind the company though as he joked that all it took was a near death experience for him to acquire some luck with women.

It was still early into the day and Euphemia was chatting with Monty while Jasper was resting for his excursion beyond the walls with Octavia later when Clarke made her way into the ship with Finn demanding that Monty take off her wristband.

Euphemia's brows rose in surprise. "Are you sure about this?" she asked as Monty gathered a few tools to take her wristband off.

Clarke nodded. "As sure as I've ever been."

The redhead frowned as she looked at the girl who had said only a few days earlier that the only way the wristband would come off was if she was dead and Euphemia wondered if it had to do with Wells' death.

After a few moments of gentle prodding the wristband popped off with a satisfying click and Monty rejoiced at the fact it was still working. "So, you can definitely use it to communicate with the Ark, then?" Euphemia asked peering over Monty's shoulder.

"We'll be talking to the Ark by nightfall," he assured.

"Kind of seems pointless for me to keep this on, huh?" Euphemia murmured staring at her own intact wristband.

"Don't you want your parents to know you're alive?" Finn questioned.

Euphemia's mouth went dry as she tried to avoid eye contact with Finn only for her to catch Clarke's gaze. "I don't have anyone left up there," was all she replied with.

"What happened to them?" Monty asked without thinking and only realized his mistake when he saw her face fall.

Euphemia shook her head and mumbled something incoherent under her breath before making her way out of the ship as swiftly as possible. She was yards away from camp when Clarke called out. "Euphemia, wait!"

Euphemia turned to the blonde. "I'm fine, Clarke," she maintained in an attempt to get the girl to stop following after her.

"You're  _not_  fine." Clarke asserted.

Euphemia sighed and felt her legs stop moving as she came to a halt. "You know," she said to Clarke whose eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "The first day, you knew who I was … you knew what I did."

Clarke pursed her lips. "Yes, I knew what you did, but I also know who you  _are_ ," she declared fiercely. "A cold-blooded murderer does not care  _that_  much about a boy who she just met. She doesn't risk her life to save his just  _because_. She doesn't sit by his side for _days_  never giving up hope that he'll pull through." Euphemia stayed silent as her eyes glossed over with tears. "I'm not going to pretend I know your reasons for doing what you did, but I'm not going to stand around and let you think you're less of a person for it."

Clarke was shocked when Euphemia wrapped her arms around Clarke and it took a moment for Clarke to reciprocate the hug. "Thank you," Euphemia mumbled into her jacket.

The blonde pulled away and placed her hands on Euphemia's shoulders. "You're not expendable. Don't ever think you are."

After Euphemia had gathered her wits and dried any tears she told Clarke she was going to head back to camp. "You go on, I'm gonna go —"

She didn't have to finish her sentence before Euphemia nodded with understanding. "Go on, I'll meet you back there," Euphemia told the blonde who smiled with appreciation and walked in the direction of Wells' grave.

Euphemia arrived back at camp in time to see Murphy urinating on one of the other boys. Her mouth hung open at his actions as she cried out. "Murphy!"

Murphy turned with a cocky smirk on his face and everything still hanging in the breeze. "Like what you see, Eff?" he asked.

Her face burned with embarrassment and anger as he zipped up his pants the arrogant look not disappearing from his face upon seeing her reaction. When she regained control of her body she stomped towards him, shrugging off one of Bellamy's lackeys who tried to stop her. "What the fuck is your problem, Murphy?!" she demanded.

A scowl replaced the smirk on his face. "My problem?" he repeated. "My problem is you cozying up and singing to that crippled kid in there who should've been dead days ago!" At this point nearly everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the argument between hotheaded Murphy and the tiny redhead. Murphy rounded on them angrily. "Get back to work!" he ordered and then grabbed Euphemia by her upper arm and dragged her forcefully to a more secluded area of the camp.

"Let go!" she ordered and ripped his hand away from her arm already feeling the bruises forming from his tight grip. "I don't understand what your problem with Jasper is!" she hissed.

Murphy's lips turned up into a snarl at the mention of his name. "He's better now so you don't need to be hanging around him so much."

"You can't tell me who I can be around or for how long!" she argued. "I am not an object that belongs to you Murphy!"

He took a step towards her and before she could lean away he grabbed her by the back of her head pulling her close to him. "You're wrong," he growled out. "You are mine and I'm not sharing with anyone." She didn't have a chance to pry him off of her before his lips reached hers.

Her mind went blank and she could do nothing but stand there as Murphy deepened the kiss while one of his hands trailed to her hip gripping softly at it. When he drew away his eyes trailed to her own haze filled eyes then to her swollen lips and he felt satisfied even as he saw irritation light up on her features as she drew back from him.

"Y-you … you can't just…" she sputtered out.

The arrogant smirk was back. "I believe I just did," he said. His hand didn't leave her hip and he drew circles on her skin under the fabric of her shirt. "I told you: I'm not sharing."

Her fist made contact with his chest and he let out a groan. "You're unbelievable," she muttered angrily as she stormed off leaving Murphy to rub at his sore chest and try to recall the feel of her lips against his.

"Euphemia!" Clarke called out when she saw the girl stomping back to the drop ship. "Come here!"

Euphemia looked confused as she followed the blonde into Bellamy's tent where their self-proclaimed leader was with Octavia and Jasper. "What's going on?" she questioned.

"Octavia and Jasper found these in the woods," Bellamy stated and pointed at the table where a homemade knife and two fingers were laying.

Clarke picked up the knife to examine it. "The knife was made of metal from the drop ship."

Jasper looked at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Who else knows about this?" Bellamy questioned his sister.

"No one," Octavia said and shook his head. "We brought it straight here."

"Clarke?" Jasper called softly to the girl.

"The Grounders didn't kill Wells," Euphemia answered for the blonde who looked as though she wanted to crumble onto the ground. "One of us did."

"So there's a murderer in the camp?" Jasper questioned nervously and Euphemia tried to ignore the sting that she felt at his words.

"There's more than one murderer in this camp," Bellamy informed him and his eyes trailed to Euphemia for a split second before focusing back on Clarke. "This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet."

Clarke frowned and made to leave the camp only to be blocked by Bellamy. "Get out of my way."

"Be smart about this," Bellamy tried to reason. "Look at what we've achieved — the wall, the patrols. Like it or not thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us."

Clarke scoffed. "Good for you, you mean. What — keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it, but it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall and besides, what're you gonna do just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward?" Bellamy questioned. "You don't even know whose knife that is."

"Oh, really?" Clarke asked. "J.M. — John Murphy."

Euphemia perked up at that. "Clarke —"

"The people have a right to know," Clarke said to her and darted out of the tent.

Euphemia looked at Bellamy who made no move to stop her. "Seriously?" she questioned incredulously and quickly followed after Clarke who was making her way towards Murphy.

"You son of a bitch!" Clarke cried out as she shoved Murphy who stumbled back with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Whoa, what's your problem?" he asked.

She held up the knife. "Recognize this?"

"Clarke, stop!" Euphemia pleaded as Murphy tried to grab his knife from Clarke asking where she had found it.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells," Clarke told him.

Any trace of humor that was on Murphy's face dropped at that. "Where I  _what_?" he took a step towards her. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me."

"You need to stop this before it gets out of hand," Euphemia told Bellamy who stood idly by with his arms crossed over his chest. Bellamy glanced at the redhead out of the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to Clarke and Murphy and she resisted the urge to punch their so-called leader.

"I know what you did and you're gonna pay for it," Clarke declared.

"Really?" Murphy looked past Clarke to his leader. "Bellamy, you really believe this crap?"

"You threatened to kill him. We all heard you. You hated Wells," said Clarke.

Murphy looked around. " _Plenty_  of people hated Wells. His father was the Chancellor that locked us up."

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him!" Clarke argued.

"I didn't kill him then, either," Murphy stated.

Octavia piped up. "Tried to kill Jasper, too." Euphemia rounded on the brunette and hissed at her to be quiet while Jasper looked shocked at the fact he had tried to be assassinated while he was unconscious.

"C'mon, this is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone!" Murphy announced.

Bellamy finally spoke up. "Come again?"

Murphy paused at that and approached him. "Bellamy, look, I'm telling you, man, I didn't do this."

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy stated obviously not believing him.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Euphemia disputed. "Anyone in camp could've taken that knife without Murphy knowing!" Murphy looked over at Euphemia and was relieved that at least she was on his side.

"Is this the kind of society that we want?" Clarke questioned. "You say that there should be no rules. Does that mean that we can kill each other without punishment?"

"I already told you. I didn't kill anyone!" Murphy reiterated.

Someone in the back of the group shouted: "I say we float him." There were several voices that murmured in agreement and Euphemia could feel the blood in her veins turn to ice as she looked desperately at Clarke in hopes the girl could diffuse the situation that she had caused.

Clarke turned and shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying."

"Why not? He deserves to float. It's justice," said the boy, Connor, who had gotten into a fight with Murphy earlier in the day.

Euphemia could feel panic growing in her stomach as she inched closer to Murphy who looked around at all of these people agreeing to put him to death. Her finger tips clutched onto the sleeve of his jacket causing him to glance down at her. Her mouth was set into a frown and her eyebrows were crinkled together as she looked up into his eyes imploring him not to make things worse.

"Revenge isn't justice," Clarke asserted.

"It's justice. Float him!" The crowd began to chant with the boy. "Float him! Float him!"

Murphy looked at the kid with a scowl. "Murphy, don't," Euphemia warned but he didn't listen as he charged only to be tripped and sent flying to the ground. The others took it as their opportunity to start kicking and beating him.

"No! Get off him!" Clarke yelled as the crowd pushed her back.

"Stop!" Euphemia shouted as she tried to dive in to help him only to have Jasper pull her from the fray. "Please, you have to stop this!" She turned to Jasper with tears in her eyes. "We have to help him!" Jasper looked distraught as he could do nothing but watch.

Murphy was bound and gagged before he was hauled up and then sent down an embankment into the mud. A rope was sent sailing over a branch that was high in one tree and a noose was fashioned on one end before being unceremoniously wrapped around Murphy's neck.

"No!" Euphemia croaked and she broke free from Jasper's grip making her way towards the front of the group only to be shoved back into Clarke.

"You can stop this!" Clarke yelled at Bellamy over the noise of the crowd. "They'll listen to you.

"Bellamy!" The boy who incited the riot called out. "You should do it!"

Euphemia was being held back by one of the boys and she could do nothing but stare at Murphy whose eyes locked onto hers. "Bellamy, please!" she shouted and Bellamy stared at the girl for a moment before he made his way over to Murphy with Clarke begging him to spare Murphy's life and in one swift kick Murphy dropped and his body swung with nothing supporting it. Euphemia's voice was hoarse as she cried out. "Murphy!"

"What're you doing?!" came a voice from the crowd. "Cut him down!" Finn turned to the little girl in the crowd who Euphemia had not even noticed until now. "Charlotte, get out of here now!" he tried to go cut Murphy down only to have a knife held to his throat.

"Just stop!" a small voice shrieked. "Murphy didn't kill Wells!" The crowd hushed as the girl announced: "I did!"

"Oh my god," Clarke gasped and grabbed the hatchet from Bellamy's belt and slashed the rope that was keeping Murphy hanging there. Murphy fell to the floor in a crumple of limbs and Euphemia rushed to his side loosening the rope around his neck before taking out the gag they had put on him.

He gasped for breath and Euphemia brushed the hair out of his eyes whispering again and again to him. "You're okay, you're okay." He looked up at her with a deadly glaze to his eyes and Euphemia wiped her thumb across his cheek ridding it of the dirt and blood that had gathered. "Please, Murphy, just end it here. No more."

"I will end it," he growled and brushed her off as he stood up looking around for Bellamy or the little girl, Charlotte, only to find that they along with Clarke and Finn had disappeared. Murphy immediately marched to Bellamy's tent stumbling along the way but Euphemia was at his side keeping him up right all the while begging him to leave it be.

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy shouted.

"Murphy, please, stop," begged Euphemia but Murphy was beyond the point of pleading with.

"Bring the girl out now!" They could hear the argument from within the tent and Euphemia saw Finn take a peek out. "You want to build a society, Princess? Let's build a society. Bring her out!" There was a moment more of deliberation before Bellamy exited the tent. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us."

"Dial it down and back off," Bellamy ordered.

"Or what? What are you gonna do about me? Hang me?" Murphy challenged.

Bellamy retorted. "I was just giving the people what they wanted."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's give them what they want," Murphy started before turning to the group that gathered behind him. "So, who wants to see the real murderer hung? All in favor?" There were only a few who raised their hands and Murphy's gaze fell to Euphemia who stood with her hands at her sides and a frown on her face. "Not even you?" he questioned. "Not even after what they did to me?"

She shook her head. "This isn't how we do things, Murph," she said.

He stared for a moment. "I see. So, it's okay to string me up for  _nothing_ , but when this little bitch confesses, you all let her walk?!" He started to shout at them that they were all cowards until Bellamy intervened telling him that it was over. Murphy backed down and gave a shrug of his arms. "Fine, whatever you say, boss."

As Bellamy was walking away Murphy came up behind him with a piece of wood and bashed him over the head with it sending Bellamy to the floor presumably unconscious. "You son of a bitch!" Octavia screeched and made to go after Murphy only to have Jasper get in the way and take a hit from Murphy.

Euphemia caught Jasper before he fell to the floor, but the dead weight of his body caused her to collapse anyway. "Jasper!" She tapped the boy's face only to find him out cold.

"Come on," Murphy ordered the few who had sided with him. "Let's get the girl." He opened the flap to the tent only to find it empty. "Charlotte!" he shouted. "Charlotte, I know you can hear me and when I find you, you are gonna pay!"

The group of delinquents after Charlotte headed into the woods with Murphy leading them, calling out for Charlotte. Night was falling fast and she hoped that it would buy Clarke and Finn some time to find a place to hide.

"Octavia," she gained the brunette's attention. "Stay here with these two. I'm gonna follow after them."

Octavia frowned. "Mia, what if he hurts you?"

Euphemia smiled weakly. "He won't." As she ran after the band of lynchers she mumbled to herself. "I hope."

She followed the sounds of Murphy's shouting. "Murphy!" she called out and he turned to her with a scowl. "Eff, unless you're gonna help me just go back to camp."

"Just stop," she urged. "This isn't going to end well for anyone if you keep this up."

Murphy glanced back at her before looking at two of the boys following him. "Tie her up," he ordered.

Euphemia's eyes widened and she thrashed as the boys grabbed her. "Murphy!" she cried out. "Murphy, no!" As strong as she thought she was she wasn't nearly strong enough to fight off two teenaged boys and she soon found herself tied to a tree watching the lights from their torches disappear into the woods. "Murphy, come back, damn it!" she let out a shaky breath and leaned her head against the tree before whimpering pathetically. "Help…"

"Euphemia?" she heard her name called out and she squinted through the darkness to find the source of the voice.

"Bellamy?" she said once she recognized his dark features. "Help, please." Bellamy was quick to cut the bindings on her wrist before asking if she was hurt. "I'm fine," she assured. "They just tied me up."

"Do you know which way they went?" he asked.

Euphemia nodded. "This way," she said and started on the path the group had headed. "We need to hurry."

It was by some stroke of luck that they found Charlotte wandering through the dark woods and Bellamy had taken her by surprise when he grabbed her. "Let me go!" she ordered as Bellamy dragged her through the woods.

"I'm trying to help you," he told her and so she couldn't try to run off Euphemia kept a tight grip on her shoulder as they guided her through the woods.

"I'm not your sister! Just stop helping me!" Charlotte demanded. "I'm over here!" she called out and tried to make a run for it only to have Euphemia haul her back over to Bellamy.

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" Bellamy asked as he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"J-just go, okay? I'm the one they want," Charlotte begged.

Euphemia kept silent as Bellamy spoke softly to the girl. "Okay, now listen to me Charlotte. I won't leave you."

In the distance Euphemia could see the approaching lights from torches and she turned back to Bellamy. "We need to go, they're close." Charlotte took that moment of distraction to try to run, but she didn't get very far with Euphemia and Bellamy around.

"Murphy!" she screeched. "I'm over here!"

"Come on out, Charlotte!" they heard Murphy yell. "Come on out!"

"Bellamy, we need to go,  _now_!" Euphemia whispered hastily and the older boy nodded before heaving the tiny girl over his shoulders.

The two made their way through the woods with Charlotte screaming the entire time despite Euphemia's insistence that she keep quiet. It wasn't too long before they reached a dead end.

"Damn it," Bellamy swore when he looked over out on the cliff that would surely kill them were they to fall off. He looked to Euphemia as though she had the power to transport them to safety.

Euphemia shook her head. "There's no where to go," she murmured sadly.

"Bellamy!" Murphy called out as he broke through the tree line. Surprise flashed in his eyes as he saw Euphemia standing next to Bellamy with a firm grip on the younger girl, but his gaze returned to Bellamy. "You can't fight all of us. Give her up."

"Maybe not," Bellamy admitted. "...but I guarantee I'll take a few of you with me."

Clarke and Finn soon made their appearance too; Clarke ordering for Bellamy to stop before she turned to Murphy. "This has gone too far," she looked back and forth between Bellamy and Murphy before saying to Murphy. "Just calm down. We'll talk about this."

Murphy took a glance at Charlotte with her frightened expression before he grabbed Clarke in one swift motion and held his knife to her throat. "Clarke!" Euphemia yelled and moved to step forward only to have Bellamy hold her back.

"I'm sick of listening to you talk," Murphy told the blonde.

"Let her go," Finn said but he backed off when Murphy threatened to slit her throat.

"No, please," Charlotte begged. "Please don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy repeated. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right now, I will let her go."

Clarke protested. "Don't do it, Charlotte."

Bellamy tried to hold the little girl back, but she screamed and swatted him away. "No! No, I have to!"

"Murphy, this is not happening," Bellamy stated.

Charlotte spoke up. "I can't let any of you get hurt anymore. Not because of me. Not after what I did." It took a moment for Euphemia to register what Charlotte was about to do but by then it was too late. Her fingertips skimmed the fabric of the little girl's jacket and she watched as Charlotte plunged off the cliff.

Clarke broke free from Murphy and slid to the edge crying out for Charlotte. "No, no, no, no," she cried over and over.

Euphemia raked a hand through her hair and she shifted around unable to comprehend what had just happened as she stared at the spot where the little girl had just been. Bellamy turned to look at Murphy who now looked very afraid of their leader. "Bellamy," he started.

Bellamy launched himself at Murphy and began to beat him mercilessly but it wasn't but a few seconds before Euphemia had her arms wrapped around the older boy's waist. "Enough!" she ordered ferociously. "That is enough!" She felt him relax under her grip and when she was sure he wasn't going to try to attack Murphy anymore she pulled away.

"You call yourself our leader," she said to him and he looked at her with such anger and sadness in his eyes. "You can't keep doing this." She turned to Clarke as well. "You  _both_ can't keep doing this."

There was confusion on their faces. "You want to be leaders? Well, then  _lead_ , damn it, but use your head and stop letting your emotions get the best of you." She motioned to what was going on around them. "Look at what you both have done."

Clarke was the first to speak after a long drawn out silence. "You were right," she confessed to Bellamy. "It's dangerous to tell people the truth, but if we're gonna survive down here we can't just survive by whatever the hell we want, we need rules."

"And who makes those rules, huh,  _you_?" questioned Bellamy.

Clarke shook her head. "No, for now, the three of us will," she declared and gestured to herself, Bellamy, and Euphemia the latter of them looked shocked at the blonde's announcement. "We make rash decisions based on our feelings and we need someone to balance that out." Clarke explained. "Euphemia is the best person to do that," she reasoned thinking of all they had been through within the past week and how the redhead didn't make impulsive choices even if she was in a state of emotional disarray.

Bellamy glanced at Euphemia and surprisingly nodded in agreement with Clarke before turning his attention back to Murphy. "So, what do we do with him? Take him back to camp and pretend like it never happened?"

"No," Clarke said before turning to look at Murphy. "We banish him."

As much as Euphemia wanted to protest she knew that this was the right thing to do for the sake of their camp. Murphy needed to be used to set an example for the rest of the delinquents about what would happen if you pushed the boundaries too far and as much as she didn't want to admit it, he was a loose cannon and because of that he was a danger to the camp.

Bellamy moved forward and grabbed Murphy. "If I ever catch you near camp, we'll be back here, is that understood?" He turned his attentions to the boys who had followed Murphy. "As for the four of you, you can come back and follow me, or go off with him to die. Your choice."

It was obvious what they all chose as they trailed after Bellamy's retreating form. Clarke looked over at Euphemia who was standing idly by a kneeling Murphy. Euphemia waved the blonde off. "I just…" Clarke didn't need to hear anymore before she nodded and walked after the rest of the group.

Euphemia dropped to her knees in front of Murphy who looked at her with some unidentifiable emotion. She held his battered face in her hands, not caring that his blood now coated them as she forced him to look in her eyes which held so much disappointment.

"I can't come with you and I'm sorry for that," she murmured. "…there's so much anger in you, Murph." she commented. "You need to learn to control it. You have good in you, I know you do, but it's not enough for me to be the only one to see it."

He stared at his best friend, the one who had stood by him for years; over a decade of constant companionship through all of the good and bad times. He exhaled heavily and leaned into her hold relishing in her soft touch knowing that it could be the last time he'd ever see her again.

"I love you." His voice came out weak and broken and it was enough to make the tears that she had been holding back break free and stream down her face. "I've loved you since I was ten."

She chuckled weakly at his confession and he looked upset at her laughter. "I'm sorry, it's just…" Her forehead rested against his and she closed her eyes as she gave her own confession. "...I can't remember a point in my life where I haven't loved you."

The next thing she knew she was being pulled into a bruising kiss and she felt as though her heart was about to burst. When she broke away she tried to hold back a sob, but it came out anyway.

"Stop," Murphy pleaded. "Please don't … don't cry."

A hiccup escaped as she tried to compose herself but she found it hard to do and she apologized for her blubbering. "Please don't die out here." She grasped onto his jacket unwilling to part from him. "I'll convince them to let you come back, but in the meantime just don't die." After looking down at her hand with a momentary pause, she pulled the metal ring off of her thumb and placed it into his hand.

His jaw clenched as his fingers tightened around the piece of jewelry. "You gave that to me after they sentenced me," she recalled. "All I had were the clothes on my back to take with me into the Skybox and you said I needed something to hang onto … something that I could look at and be reminded that I had someone waiting for me." She placed a hand on his enclosed one. "You're going to take this so that you remember that you have someone waiting for  _you_  … you have someone to come back to."

She felt him nod and a husky "all right" escaped from his lips which she covered with her own. This kiss wasn't forceful like their first two had been; it was soft and tender and Euphemia was reluctant to let it end.

"I'm sorry I did this to you," he murmured when they finally parted.

The goodbye was hard; Euphemia kept whispering 'I love you's until her voice grew hoarse and Murphy did his best to keep himself together. He watched her leave with a heart made of lead and before long it was just him, the darkness and the ring still clutched tightly in his hand.

* * *

Euphemia walked past the crowd that had gathered to listen to Bellamy and Clarke as they explained what they had done with Murphy and why they had done it. The drop ship was empty save for Monty who was finishing up with rewiring Clarke's wristband.

When he heard someone approaching and he was surprised to see Euphemia. "Mia?" he questioned when he saw the glisten of tears streaming down her face.

She didn't say anything as she collapsed in front of him her arms going around his waist and her face burying itself into the fabric of his shirt. Monty's arms instinctively went around her and he held her tightly as he listened to the choked sobs that she tried to conceal.

"It's gonna be all right," he promised her and he smoothed down her hair which had grown infinitely wilder due to the rain. "Please don't cry, Mia."

Those words only made her cry harder.

 


	8. Good Men

_Monster, how should I feel?_

* * *

Euphemia was awoken by a shock from her wristband and she looked around in distress at everyone around her. "What happened?" she asked frantically.

"It didn't work," Monty stated. "I think we fried the wristbands."

Finn had heartbroken expression on as he stormed out of the ship with Clarke trailing behind him. Euphemia glanced over at Jasper who had taken a seat next to her and seemed to be having a pity party of his own. She placed her hand over his and gave a light squeeze. "It's okay, Jasper, we can be miserable together," she joked the best she could.

"I'm an idiot," he told her.

Euphemia gave a shrug. "Not everyone's perfect like me. Don't beat yourself up about it."

Jasper gave her an incredulous look and playfully shoved her. "Oh, shut up."

Monty glanced over at the two who were throwing lighthearted jabs at each other and he felt content seeing these two important people in his life the least bit happy after what they had all gone through.

* * *

It was close to dawn and Euphemia was still awake while most of the others had long since gone to sleep. The only sign of activity was from those who were on guard duty around the walls. It was probably around midnight when they rotated out guards and Euphemia had tried to take one of their shifts, but the boy, Miller, declined her offer.

Regardless, she hovered around the fire unable to sleep and when she saw something twinkling in the sky she thought she might've just been hallucinating from sleep deprivation. After rubbing her eyes and seeing the object was still there careening through the skyline she stood up and squinted trying to get a better look.

At first she thought it was a shooting star, but when she saw it burning up in the atmosphere she realized it wasn't. "Bellamy!" she shouted not caring if she woke up the entire camp. "Get out here!"

It was Octavia who joined her first and then Bellamy soon followed after appearing from his tent shirtless. His sister was looking up in wonder at the object as a parachute deployed and pointed it out to her brother. "There!"

"They're coming to help us," One boy said from behind them and another added: "Now we can kick some Grounder ass."

Bellamy turned to Euphemia with a face that showed he was none too happy about whatever it was landing on Earth. "Come with me," he ordered.

Euphemia nodded and followed Bellamy to the tent, which Euphemia had dubbed 'The War Tent', where he promptly put on a shirt before laying out a map of the area that they had received upon their arrival to Earth. A few of Bellamy's men had joined them in the tent as well as Octavia.

Euphemia pointed at the map where their camp was located and gestured upwards. "It looked like it was heading north."

"If it cleared the ridge, it's probably near the lake," said one of Bellamy's lackeys.

Octavia spoke. "We should get moving, everyone's ready."

Bellamy shook his head. "No one's going anywhere. Not while it's dark, it isn't safe. We'll head out at first light. Pass the word," he told his men who did as he commanded.

Before Bellamy could make to leave the tent Octavia was in his face. "Everyone for a hundred miles saw this thing come down. What if the Grounders get to it first? Bell, we should go  _now_."

"I said we wait until sunrise," reiterated Bellamy who didn't look like he wanted to argue right now.

Euphemia piped into the siblings' argument. "Bellamy's right," she said which earned a look of disbelief from Octavia. "It's dark out. We'll just be fumbling over ourselves trying to find this thing, it's better if we wait until it's light out." Octavia pursed her lips and Bellamy sent Euphemia a grateful look as he made his way out of the tent in a hurry.

Unbeknownst to him he had a tiny, redheaded shadow who trailed after him as he snuck out of the gates and into the woods. It was a few minutes of following him as he snaked through the woods before she made her presence known. "You know, this sure doesn't seem like you're waiting until sunrise."

Bellamy jumped at the sound of her voice and turned to her with annoyance in her eyes. "Go back to camp," he instructed.

"Can't do that," she answered and started to walk ahead of him only to have him pull her back by the arm.

She looked up at him and for the first time she noticed that he towered over her. She should've felt threatened or at least intimidated by him, but after what had happened the previous night, after seeing how much he had cared for that little girl, she didn't find him all that menacing anymore.

"Go back to camp,  _now_!" he repeated.

With her other hand she grabbed onto the arm that was holding her and wrenched it off. "Since we first landed you've been doing all you can to prevent the Ark from finding out that we're alive down here. Why is that?" she questioned. Bellamy's eyes shifted from hers and she could see guilt in his. "You must've done something  _pretty_  bad up there."

His jaw clenched and he seemed hesitant as he stared at the girl in front of him. "I shot the Chancellor." he confessed.

That took her aback as she stared at him with wide eyes. "You…" she sputtered. "… I was not expecting that one," she admitted. There was a moment of silence on her end before she announced. "Let's go."

Bellamy's brows furrowed with confusion as he walked behind her. "You're not coming with me," he insisted.

Euphemia sent him a look of exasperation over her shoulder. "Get over yourself, Bellamy." she said. "You're not the only one with demons, trust me."

He stared at the girl as she walked ahead of him with contemplation. "And what exactly are your demons, Euphemia?" he questioned with a hint of malice. "The two people who you murdered?"

Euphemia stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at him with a surprised look before her eyes turned cold. "I did what I had to do," she stated blankly. "It was me or them."

Shock at her bold confession caused him to stare unsurely at her. "Do you regret it?" he asked.

Euphemia didn't even have to think for a second before she shook her head. "No, I don't," she admitted and continued to walk with Bellamy following after her. "If you think I'm a monster for saying that, it's okay."

The chance to respond wasn't allowed to Bellamy as Octavia came running up behind them. "What are you guys doing?" she questioned with annoyance.

Bellamy didn't even look at her before replying. "Go back to camp it isn't safe."

"You lied to everyone. You lied to  _me_ ," she accused and rounded to Euphemia who seemed to be inching away from the brunette's death glare. "You're just agreeing with this?!"

"Just go home!" Bellamy ordered.

Anger bubbled within Octavia as she stared down her brother. "You always wanted to play the big brother, huh?" she grounded out. "Well, guess what? Jokes on me, you're just a selfish dick!"

Euphemia tried to cut in before the situation got out of hand. "Octavia, don't —" she started.

Bellamy held an arm out to quiet Euphemia as he took a step towards his sister. "I did this for you … to protect  _you_ ," he explained. "If the Ark finds out we're alive, they'll come down … and when they do, I'm dead."

Bewilderment spread on Octavia's face. "What did you do?" she asked.

"I shot him," he confessed. "I shot Jaha."

"What?" Octavia whispered unable to grasp the information she had just been told.

"I found out they were sending you to Earth… I couldn't let you go alone. Someone came to me with a deal — do this, kill him and they'd get me on the drop ship … and I did it," said Bellamy.

"You killed the Chancellor?" she tried to clarify still unbelieving of what her brother had done.

"He floated our mother," he tried to justify. "He locked you up. He deserved it."

"I didn't ask you to do that." Octavia insisted.

Bellamy pressed his lips together in thought before nodding. "You're right," he told her. "I made the choice. This is on me. Whatever they sent down, I'll take care of it."

Octavia stepped back a few paces. "I didn't ask for any of this," she quavered and began to walk away back towards camp in a hurry.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two and Euphemia, unable to take the quiet, spoke. "That went well." Bellamy sent her a pointed look before tugging on her sleeve pulling her with him as he began to trudge in the opposite direction of Octavia.

It was sometime later that Euphemia asked. "How did you know?"

Bellamy glanced over his shoulder at her with a perplexing quirk to his eyebrow. "Know about what?"

"Why I was in the Skybox; how did you know?" she clarified.

"I was a cadet a couple of years ago," he disclosed. "You were the talk of the guard when it happened. They did everything they could to keep it hush-hush."

Euphemia gazed at the ground. "I'm not a bad person," she uttered softly. "At least I don't think I am."

Bellamy gave the girl a gentle look with the corners of his lips pulled into a frown. "I don't think you are either," he acknowledged and Euphemia sent him a grateful smile. "So, why'd you do it?" he asked no longer tiptoeing around the subject.

All that came from Euphemia was quiet and Bellamy was sure that she wasn't going to answer especially when she started to walk ahead of him, but to his surprise she did. "I don't have a single happy memory of my parents," she admitted. "Most of the memories I have of them are ones I would much rather forget." When Bellamy sent her a puzzled look she elaborated. "They never wanted to have a child. I was a burden to them and they always let me know it.

The first time they beat me I was maybe five or six. My father broke my arm and when they realized they had to take me to medical to get it treated the beatings became less … noticeable …" Bellamy grimaced at the implication. "I spent ten years of my life enduring my parents' anger and at some point I realized that it would eventually kill me.

They got really mad at me one day … I'm not even sure what the reason is now, maybe I did bad in one of my classes or I spoke out of turn, but they beat me worse than they had ever done before and I remember lying in my bed after with a battered face and broken ribs thinking: 'If I don't kill them, they're gonna kill me' and I did."

Bellamy stared at this tiny girl who looked like she wouldn't even have it in her to harm a fly and he couldn't imagine her slipping into her parents' bedroom that night and taking a knife to their throats. Despite the fact she never wavered in her testimony, her eyes were filled with an unimaginable sadness. He couldn't help but wonder if that's what he looked like to her.

"I turned myself in. They didn't even know what to do with me. I mean, a sixteen year old comes to you with blood all over her and confesses that she just murdered her parents in their sleep … what do you do in that situation?" she rambled. "The day after we landed here — I was supposed to be floated, but somehow, I got this … reprieve … a second chance that I wouldn't have gotten up on the Ark.

If they come down here who knows if they'll keep their promise of pardoning us. If we were expendable enough to send down here in the first place who's to say we won't be expendable once our purpose is fulfilled?" she determined.

The conversation was left at a cliff hanger when they saw the pod in the distance and a buzz of a radio from within could be heard. Bellamy approached the craft with caution and Euphemia watched as he tore the radio from the console and cut the wires connecting it. She caught sight of a figure in a space suit slouched over in the pod either unconscious or dead.

"Now what?" she enquired.

Bellamy gripped the radio. "Now we get rid of it," he said and led her to a small creek a fair distance away from the pod's crash site.

He glanced over at Euphemia and seemed hesitant. "You're sure you wanna do this?" she asked before adding, "I'm not going to stop you, but you're sure this is what you want to do?"

Bellamy looked down at the radio in his hands and then back at the redhead before he reared back and chucked the radio into the water. Euphemia watched with eyebrows raised as the device plopped into the water with a splash before turning back to Bellamy. "Come on," she urged. "Better get out of here."

They didn't get very far before an accusatory 'hey' was yelled at them. Clarke came bounding through the woods and grabbed Bellamy by the arm forcing him to look at her. "Where is it?" she demanded.

Bellamy rolled his eyes. "Hey, Princess. You taking a walk in the woods?" he replied sarcastically.

Clarke let out exasperated huff. "They're getting ready to kill three hundred people up there to save oxygen and I can guarantee you it won't be Council members. It'll be working people.  _Your_  people." Her stare redirected itself to Euphemia. "And  _you_? How could you just go along with this?" she hissed.

Bellamy jumped to the redhead's defense. "Red here just caught up with me," he lied and Euphemia sent him a questioning gaze, but Bellamy looked at her out of the corner of his eye as if to tell her to keep her mouth shut.

Finn came out of nowhere and shoved Bellamy in the chest. "Bellamy. Where's the radio?" he asked.

Bellamy pushed him back. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he played dumb.

A girl who Euphemia had never seen before chimed in. "Bellamy Blake? They're looking everywhere for you."

"Shut up," Bellamy snarled and only backed up with Euphemia laid a hand on his chest muttering to him that he needed to calm down.

Clarke looked between the girl and Bellamy before asking. "Looking for him why?"

"He shot Chancellor Jaha," the girl informed.

Finn and Clarke sent Bellamy shocked looks. "That's why you took the wristbands. Needed everyone to think we're dead." Clarke accused.

"And all that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just care about saving your own skin," Finn added accusingly.

Bellamy began to walk away but the new girl went to stop him. "Hey! Shooter! Where's my radio?"

"Get out of my way," Bellamy ordered.

"Where is it?" the girl repeated more aggressively.

Bellamy rounded on her his face contorted with anger. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

She stepped up to him. "Really? Well, I'm right here," It was within a split second that Bellamy had her up against a tree and she had a knife held threateningly close to him. "Where's my radio?" she grounded out.

The three bystanders rushed to the quarreling pair. "Okay, stop it," Clarke ordered.

The two shoved away from each other. "Jaha deserved to die. You all know that."

"Yeah, he's not my favorite person, either, but he isn't dead," the girl stated.

The tough facade that Bellamy had going for him was immediately dropped. "What?" he questioned incredulously.

"You're a lousy shot," The girl quipped.

Clarke approached Bellamy. "Don't you see what this means? You're not a murderer. You always did what you had to do to protect your sister. That's who you are and you can do it again by protecting three hundred of your people," she begged. "Where's the radio?"

Euphemia and Bellamy shared a look. "It's too late," he stated.

* * *

A group of delinquents was gathered at the creek and a search for the radio ensued with Bellamy and Euphemia watching idly from the sidelines. "I'm sorry." Bellamy said to the girl out of the blue.

Euphemia gave a sheepish shrug. "If they're gonna come down and kill me there's nothing I can do about it," she replied.

"I won't let them," he vowed. "I won't let them hurt you."

She sent him a wistful smile and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Bellamy Blake," she said and got up when one of the boys announced that he had found the radio. An indistinguishable look dawned Bellamy's face and he watched as Euphemia approached the group gathering at the shoreline before he made his way over.

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asked Raven who was picking off bits of seaweed from the waterlogged radio.

"Maybe, but it'll take half a day just to dry out the components and see what's broken." Raven informed.

"Like I said, it's too late." said Bellamy.

Clarke was in his face within seconds. "Do you have any idea what you did?" she asked. "Do you even care?"

"You asked me to help and I helped." Bellamy stated looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but standing in front of Clarke who looked ready explode on him.

"Three hundred people are gonna die today because of you." she barked but before she could say anything else Raven spoke up.

"Hold up," the brunette called out. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?" she inquired looking around at the others.

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn questioned.

A sly smirk formed on Raven's face while Euphemia tried to force the feeling of dread that was beginning to bubble within her. A hand on the small of her back caught her attention and she glanced up at Bellamy who gave her a look of reassurance. Euphemia never thought since the day she met him that Bellamy Blake would ever make her feel the least bit safe, but with him at her side she didn't feel as scared.

 


	9. Missing

_When you wish upon a star..._

* * *

The entire camp was enlisted in helping Raven and Clarke piece together some flares with whatever scrap parts they could scavenge from the pod and drop ship. Night had fallen by the time everything was ready and the sky lit up with an ethereal shade of red as the first set of flares were sent into the atmosphere.

Monty and Jasper were at either side of Euphemia and they were in awe of the light spectacle. Monty peeked over at Euphemia and saw her staring intently at the sky with a scowl on her face. "Are you okay?" he asked gaining the girl's attention and erasing the frown that she had been sporting.

"I'm fine," she reassured with a forced smile and she knew instantly that Monty wasn't buying it.

Jasper, who had tuned in on their conversation, threw an arm around her shoulder. "Nothing to be upset about, Mia," he said. "Just look at that view." Euphemia returned her stare to the sky and tried to keep the frown that tugged at the edges of her mouth away.

As the last of the flares went up, something seemed to click in her head and she looked around, removing Jasper's arm from her shoulder so she could look behind them. "What's wrong?" Monty questioned when he noticed the distraught expression she had.

"Have you seen Octavia?" she inquired as she leaned forward onto her tippy toes to get a better view.

It was Jasper's turn to frown as he replied. "No, not since this morning."

Worry coursed through her veins as she tromped towards Bellamy who seemed ready to head towards his tent for the night which was what everyone else had begun to do. "Bellamy," she called to him. His eyes fell to her and upon seeing her troubled look he asked her if something had happened. "I can't find Octavia." That was all she had to utter to send the older boy into a complete panic.

He grabbed her by the shoulders, probably much more aggressively than he meant to as he demanded. "What do you mean you can't find her?"

Euphemia placed a hand on his own as a signal that he was being too rough and he quickly retracted his hands from her form. "I asked Jasper and he said that he hasn't seen her since this morning." There was terror quickly rising in his eyes and she placed a soothing hand on his arm. "She's probably fine," she tried to comfort. "I'll help you look around camp. She might've just come back this morning and not said anything to anyone."

Bellamy's jaw tightened and he nodded trying to keep calm despite the situation. "You go check the drop ship and I'll see if she's in one of the tents." he ordered.

The girl immediately headed for the drop ship, but her search proved fruitless when all she found were grumpy delinquents who were telling her to be quiet while she called out for Octavia. As she returned to the colony of tents, Clarke's head popped out of one of them. "What are you doing?" she questioned.

Euphemia was about to say something, but she felt someone come up behind her. "Have you seen Octavia?" Bellamy asked from over Euphemia's shoulder.

"It's Octavia," reasoned Clarke. "She's probably chasing butterflies."

Bellamy shook his head. "We've checked the camp and she's not here," Bellamy said.

Clarke was silent for a moment upon hearing the desperation in Bellamy's voice. "Okay, I'll help you find her," she assured. "Let's check again. You go to the drop ship, I'll check the rest of the tents, and Euphemia, can you go patrol the outside of the wall?"

Euphemia gave a nod of agreement and headed for the wall catching the tail end of their conversation as Bellamy thanked Clarke. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Octavia." she corrected showing that she had not forgotten that he may have cost over three hundred people their lives aboard the Ark.

Bellamy and Clarke were done checking the inside of the camp before Euphemia had finished her walk around the wall and when they saw her approaching with a frown on her face they knew her search was futile as well.

"Let's form a search party," Euphemia suggested and Clarke protested going out into the woods while it was still dark. "She's already been gone half a day; the longer we wait the less of a chance there is that we're gonna find her," declared Euphemia.

Bellamy was at her side agreeing fervently with the redhead. "She's right, we need to go, _now_."

Clarke pursed her lips and conceded seeing that she was outnumbered in her argument. "It can't be a big group," she bargained. "We can't afford to send everyone out and leave the camp unprotected."

Bellamy and Euphemia consented to her terms and set out to recruit people for their search party, both of them agreeing that Finn would be a major asset due to his tracking skills. It wasn't surprising that five of Bellamy's minions offered their services.

Euphemia wasn't friendly with most of them besides the boy Miller who she had exchanged words with on a few occasions. Two other boys had volunteered; Diggs who Euphemia was unfamiliar with and John Mbege who she only knew through his association with Murphy. A pair of girls also joined their group and Euphemia recognized them as two girls who frequently warmed Bellamy's bed.

Euphemia had gone to Finn's tent to ask for his help in their search and found the Spacewalker getting a haircut from Raven. "Hey, sorry to interrupt," apologized Euphemia.

Finn donned a confused expression at the redhead's appearance in his tent. "What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

Her eyes flickered to Raven who was staring her down with distrust after the brunette's confrontation with Bellamy. "Octavia's missing," she disclosed. "We're forming a search party. We need someone who is experienced with tracking; Bellamy and I were wondering if you'd help us."

Finn looked ready to jump out of his seat and he probably would have had Raven not kept a firm grip on his shoulder as she tried to cut his hair. "Of course," he said gently. "When are you leaving?"

"In a few minutes," informed Euphemia before she turned and left the tent calling out to Bellamy who was busy prepping everyone for the excursion into the woods. "Finn's on board." she informed him.

"Gather round and pick a weapon," Bellamy called to them as he laid out a pile of homemade blades and blunt but lethal objects.

Euphemia grabbed a hatchet-like blade and gripped at the handle testing the weight of the weapon in her hand. Her attention was caught by Jasper who timidly approached the group only to be stopped by Clarke. "Hey, Jasper, you don't have to do this," she said softly to the boy knowing of his attachment to Octavia. "You haven't let camp since we brought you back."

"Clarke, I need to do this," Jasper pleaded.

Euphemia stepped beside Clarke. "It's fine," she assured. "It's not like he's going out there alone." An appreciative smile crossed Jasper's face as the redhead stood up for him.

"Finn," Bellamy called out. "Get out here." It was another moment and the boy had yet to emerge from his tent. "Finn, we're leaving." Bellamy announced.

"I'm coming!" Finn yelled from his tent.

As the delinquents were readying themselves, one boy said: "Hey guys, look up there!"

Euphemia's gaze trained on the sky and she saw hundreds of little lights flowing through the sky. "They didn't work," Raven said as she exited the tent. "They didn't see the flares."

From beside Euphemia, Bellamy asked. "A meteor shower tells you that?"

"It's not a meteor shower," Clarke interjected. "It's a funeral. Hundreds of bodies being returned to the Earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side." Silence took over as they all realized the gravity of the situation. Euphemia suddenly felt an enormous wave of guilt wash over her and she looked to Bellamy who had shame written all over his face. "They didn't get our message."

"This is all because of you!" Raven shouted as she charged at Bellamy only to be held back.

Bellamy's jaw clenched. "I helped you find the radio," he stated coldly.

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!" she corrected.

Clarke placed a hand on the infuriated brunette's shoulder and pulled her back. "Yeah, he knows," she said. "Now he has to live with it."

Bellamy glanced up at the sky once more before his gaze returned forward. "All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna find her. You coming or what?" he asked looking at Finn who mumbled a soft 'yeah'.

"Let's go," announced Euphemia and followed after Bellamy.


	10. Cornered

_You're either the hunter or the hunted._

* * *

 

The first hour into their search was spent just trying to find a trail that Octavia might’ve left. When they finally came to a steep embankment in the woods it was Mbege who called out to the others: “Look, over here!” 

 

“What is it?” Bellamy questioned as he rushed over.

 

“Right there,” Mbege pointed out. “You see it?” 

 

Euphemia squinted her eyes and tried to focus on what he was pointing out, barely managing to make out something hanging from a bush about halfway down the ravine. “Is that Octavia’s?” someone asked.

 

“Rope,” Bellamy ordered.

 

“What’re you doing?” Finn questioned as Bellamy tossed one end of the rope down the hill.

 

“We need the rope to get back up,” explained Bellamy. He grabbed a flashlight from Mbege and began to carefully descend stopping halfway to grab the object on the bush. “It’s hers,” he announced. “I’m going all the way down.”

 

Euphemia looked around and saw no one else moved to follow after Bellamy. After handing her torch to Jasper and securing the hatchet through her belt loop, she gripped tightly at the rope and cautiously made her way down. Jasper wasn’t far behind after she none too gracefully landed at the bottom.

 

Bellamy was kneeling on the ground when she made her way over to him. “What is that?” she asked as she peeked over his hunched shoulder catching sight of the blood that coated the tips of his fingers. A frown settled on her face as she began to think of the worst case scenarios.

 

Jasper and Finn weren’t far behind them. “Someone else was here,” Bellamy concluded.

 

Finn looked around before pointing out a set of footprints that were deeper than the rest. “The footprints are deeper going that way,” he said. “He was carrying her.”

 

The rest of their search party was beginning to trail down behind them. “If they took her she’s alive,” Jasper stated trying to maintain hope that Octavia was all right. “Just like when they took me.”

 

“That everyone?” Euphemia asked as Miller stumbled his way down the ravine grabbing hold of Euphemia’s outstretched arm so he wouldn’t trip and fall. He muttered a thanks to her before confirming that everyone had made it down.

 

“Let’s go,” Bellamy ordered.

 

Finn led the group through the woods, twisting and turning as he followed the trail that had been left very carefully. He came to an abrupt stop a long while later when they came to a collection of skeletons impaled on spikes. 

 

“That’s welcoming,” Euphemia mumbled and despite herself took a slight step back from the display.

 

“I don’t speak Grounder…” Finn started. “…but I think this means keep out.” 

 

“Let’s get out of here. It’s crazy,” said one of the boys. A few more agreed with him and they began to make their way back to camp.

 

“Go back if you want,” Bellamy told the group. “My sister, my responsibility.” He charged forward, ignoring the signs of warning. 

 

Euphemia glanced up at Jasper who looked doe-eyed and afraid. She smiled softly at him and gave him a pat on the back as if to tell him he didn’t need to continue on before following after Bellamy. “Thank you,” she heard Bellamy say to her as she came up beside him.

 

“Nothing to it,” she admitted.

 

Their group had dwindled down as they pressed on into Grounder territory. Light was breaking through the trees making it easier to navigate through the dense forest which Finn was leading them through. Euphemia noticed his brows furrowing together and he slowed before coming to a complete stop with an irritated sigh. “I got nothing,” he confessed as the trail he had been after came to an end. “We lost the trail.” 

 

“Keep looking,” Bellamy insisted.

 

The group was cautious as they moved forward and Euphemia, after having caught several shadows out of the corner of her eye within the last half an hour, knew that they were being watched. She tugged on Jasper’s sleeve making sure he stayed close to her in case anything happened. While she probably wasn’t strong enough to take on a Grounder, she was tiny and quick on her feet if need be. 

 

“Wandering around aimlessly isn’t the way to find your sister, we should backtrack,” Finn suggested but Bellamy cut him off.

 

“I’m not going back,” he grounded out.

 

One of the girls, Roma, interrupted their conversation. “Hey, where’s John?” she questioned with a trembling voice.

 

The group glanced around confused at the disappearance of one of their members. “I just saw him a second ago,” Jasper whispered.

 

Fear began coursing through her veins and she looked to Bellamy for some sort of guidance. “Spread out. He couldn’t have gotten that far,” he ordered but before anyone could even move a body fell from the trees with a loud ‘thud’. Her stomach turned at the sight of the boy’s corpse on the ground. Death was no stranger to her, but that didn’t make it any less difficult to deal with when coming face to face with it. 

 

“They use the trees,” Finn deduced as he looked up to where Mbege’s body had fallen from.

 

Birds were crowing around them which only filled them with more dread. “We shouldn’t have crossed the boundary,” Diggs said.

 

“Now can we go back?” Roma pleaded.

 

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a figure looming in the distance and she turned to Finn who was standing next to her and tugged on his sleeve gesturing to the figure. “There,” Finn pointed out.

 

“Another one,” said Diggs as they spotted a Grounder creeping through the trees.

 

“We should run,” Finn urged.

 

Euphemia didn’t have to be told twice as she grasped Jasper by the collar of his jacket and pulled her along with him. She forced him to keep up with her as she stayed aligned with Bellamy who led the group.

 

Every time they thought they had an opening to escape them, the Grounders would cut them off. The group was growing frantic as they realized just how many Grounders they were up against. “What are we gonna do?” Miller questioned. “They keep heading us off.” 

 

“Just keep running!” Finn called out.

 

“I can’t run much longer!” Jasper shouted as he struggled to keep up with Euphemia who refused to let him fall behind.

 

“I’m not stopping for him!” Diggs yelled.

 

Bellamy came to a stop. “I’m sick of running, anyway.” Diggs kept running despite Bellamy’s proclamation.

 

“What are you doing?” Euphemia asked as she skidded to a halt with Jasper nearly barreling into her.

 

“They know where she is.” Bellamy insisted.

 

Roma looked at Bellamy like he was insane and called out for Diggs before taking off in the direction the boy disappeared in. “Diggs, where are you?” she shouted.

 

The remainder of the group looked at each other before setting off after the two. Bellamy yelled for Roma to stop, but she kept on running. Euphemia stopped in her tracks when she saw Diggs impaled by a spike. “Oh god,” she murmured horrified by the sight. 

 

“They were leading us here,” Jasper concluded as he looked around. “It’s the only direction we could run in.” 

 

“Hey,” Finn said softly. “Where’d they go?” he asked when he noticed that the Grounders were no longer after them.

 

A loud noise in the woods caught their attention. “After Roma,” Bellamy deduced and took off into the trees to find the missing girl. The others trailed after him after sharing hesitant looks. 

 

“Over there,” the other girl, Monroe, pointed out when she saw a person behind a tree. Bellamy was the one to go towards the figure with his weapon at ready. Finn and Euphemia were following quietly behind him making sure to keep an eye on their surroundings in case the Grounders were lurking. 

 

Bellamy’s face fell when he saw Roma pinned to the tree by a spear, blood dripping down the sides of her mouth. He approached the body and carefully shut her eyes which stared blankly ahead. Euphemia stepped towards him and placed a hand on his arm. “Bellamy—” she started.

 

“She only came because of me,” he murmured softly. 

 

“They’re playing with us,” said Finn. “They can kill us whenever they want.” 

 

“Then they should get it over with!” Jasper yelled angrily. Euphemia stared at the boy with surprise as he continued to shout while Bellamy ordered Finn to shut him up and Euphemia gripped Jasper’s arm trying to talk the boy out of his hysteric state. 

 

“Bellamy!” Monroe shouted when she saw a Grounder emerge from the woods around them.

 

The hard look that was on Jasper’s face vanished as more Grounders began to surround them. Euphemia’s heart began to race and her hands trembled as she frantically looked around at the menacing figures that were beginning to close in on them.

 

She didn’t think that their reprieve would be a fog horn blowing in the distance. The Grounders reacted to the sound immediately and began to retreat leaving the group of delinquents in a state of confusion. “They’re leaving,” Bellamy said with relief.

 

“That horn,” Jasper mumbled. “What does it mean?”

 

It was Finn who had the answer. “Acid fog,” he stated and took out a parachute from the bag that hung from his shoulders. 

 

“We have to run,” Monroe insisted.

 

Finn argued. “There’s no time.”

 

A short time later they found themselves lying belly down on the ground cramped together under the parachute. Euphemia glanced over to Miller on her right and then to Jasper on her left before saying: “This is cozy.” 

 

“How long are we supposed to wait?” Jasper asked and Monroe followed up with questioning whether the parachute would even work against the acidic fog. 

 

“We’ll find out,” said Finn.

 

Bellamy let out a sigh. “No, we won’t,” he stated before peeking out from underneath the parachute. “There’s no fog,” he informed and the rest of the group rose from under the fabric.

 

“Maybe, it was a false alarm,” Finn suggested.

 

Bellamy caught sight of a figure flouncing through the forest. “They’re coming back,” he warned.

 

After looking around for signs of any more Grounders Jasper stated. “I think he’s alone.” 

 

“I don’t even think he knows we’re here,” Euphemia mentioned.

 

“Now, can we run?” Monroe asked.

 

“If he doesn’t see us, I’m going after him,” Bellamy declared.

 

“And what? Kill him?” Finn inquired.

 

“No,” Bellamy denied. “Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him.” 

 

For the first time, Euphemia hesitated in following Bellamy. “How do we know he’s not leading us to another trap?” Jasper asked. 

 

Finn locked eyes with Euphemia who seemed just as scared as him and Jasper. “We don’t,” he admitted. 

 

Euphemia looked over at Monroe and saw the reluctance in her eyes to continuing on with their search mission. “If you don’t want to come you don’t have to,” she told the other girl. “Take Miller with you back to camp.”

 

The girl looked eternally grateful while Miller looked at the redhead incredulously. “I’m not leaving,” he asserted. 

 

“Listen,” she started. “If we, y’know, for whatever reason _die_ out here, at least it won’t be six of us added onto the three that are already dead.” 

 

Finn backed her up. “She’s right,” he agreed. “Take Monroe back to camp.” 

 

Miller appeared unwilling to listen, but he knew the authority that both Finn and Euphemia held in the group so he did as he was told motioning for Monroe to follow him as he led her in the direction back to camp.

 

“Come on,” Euphemia said to Finn and Jasper who trailed after her as she headed in the direction Bellamy disappeared in and when they finally caught up reached the older boy he asked them where Miller and Monroe were. “I sent them back,” replied Euphemia and were it any other person Bellamy would’ve argued against sending two of their group back, but he knew Euphemia and he knew she wouldn’t do anything without a reason.

 

It was nearing dusk as they approached the cave where the lone Grounder vanished into. “Get your weapons ready,” Bellamy ordered and the others didn’t need to be told twice. As they cautiously entered the cave, it was the sight of Octavia standing over an unconscious Grounder that greeted them. “Octavia,” Bellamy called out with relief.

 

“Bellamy?” Octavia questioned. “Get the key!” 

 

He grabbed the key from the ground and hastily began to unlock the padlock that trapped Octavia to the wall. “Euphemia, watch the entrance,” he told the redhead and she did as she was told, heading back out the cave where she stood gripping at her hatchet trying to bury the fear that had started to rise in her. She wasn’t gone more than a few moments before she heard Octavia yelling which sent her running back into the cave.

 

“What the hell happened?” she demanded when she saw Finn sprawled out on the floor bleeding and Bellamy gasping for breath. The Grounder lay on the ground unconscious.

 

“Finn,” Jasper uttered. “He stabbed Finn.” 

 

She glanced between Jasper and Bellamy before spouting. “What the hell are you waiting for? Let’s go!” That seemed to wake them all up from whatever daze they were in as Bellamy scrambled to his feet. He and Jasper carefully lifted Finn up off the cave floor and they all began to make the long trek back to camp.

 

“You’re gonna be okay,” Euphemia told Finn who was fading in and out of consciousness. “Clarke’ll fix you up.” 


End file.
